Sick Twisted Smile
by DarkHououmon
Summary: "I can see you are confused. That is understandable. Not many...well actually, no one knows of these..activities..."
1. Chapter 1

Author Note: This is a branch off from my AU series. Namely the first entry that depicts an evil Rudy.

sss

Rudy didn't bother raising his head up when he listened to the door shut. He let out a soft grunt. Looks like his parents had decided to leave him again. Typical. They always go out and they never say where they are going, or if they were even leaving. If he hadn't heard them now, then he wouldn't have known they were gone unless he happened to look for them.

Not that he bothered looking for them. He didn't care about them all that much. They were more of a nuisance to him. The few times when his parents bothered to notice him, he often wished they'd go away. In fact, he liked it better this way. Alone, where he could think and do things that he wanted. The only thing his parents were good for was food and other basic necessities. While he wasn't above stealing, it was much easier letting his parents do the work.

He turned his attention to the chalkboard. Right about now, his 'friend' Snap would be waiting for him. It was the weekend after all. He didn't need to worry about school and those stupid kids during this time. This was the perfect chance to head into ChalkZone. There was always something fun to do there. That world had endless possibilities. The thought of it made his fingertips tingle.

He had thought of allowing Vinnie or Terry 'accidentally' come into ChalkZone. That would be quite the spectacle. He only declined because he didn't want them exposing this world to anyone. He wanted to keep this world as big of a secret as possible. He didn't mind Penny coming here, but outside of that, he preferred this place to be a secret. He considered this place his. His own playground. His own set of toys. His own place where he could vent his anger and hatred on an unsuspecting zoner. Without it, he risked exposing his behavior to someone else.

He knew that Snap and Penny, his 'friends' as they call themselves, could most certainly tell on him if they found out. They would try to lock him away in the loony bin or something. That was something he couldn't afford. After all, where else was he going to release his energy?

Thankfully, it was relatively easy to get away from them. All he had to do was come up with some kind of convincing lie. Something that would get those two off his back.

He wouldn't be long of course. He would come right back before they get too suspicious. He just had to make sure he timed everything perfectly. He just needed to find a zoner that was isolated from the others, drag them somewhere, toy with them and take care of them, and come back. Oh and hide the body of course so no one will know he did it. He didn't want to get caught, now did he? Of course, the idea of doing this in a dangerous location was kind of a turn on for him. The rush and the adrenaline... He could just feel it now.

He shook the thought away as he refocused his attention on getting into ChalkZone. Penny and Snap would be expecting him. He did have thoughts of doing something about them so he could do this unhindered, but the rest of ChalkZone would get suspicious. They would be hounding him for information and ask how he felt about their 'absense'. That would make it even harder for him to have fun. And besides, he didn't mind them too much. They weren't half bad. At least they were better than his stupid parents.

He raised up the magic chalk and pressed it against the board. He slowly moved it in a circle, the white chalk dust forming the portal that allowed him into that world he discovered two years ago. He gave a smile as he saw the familiar green landscape, the sky as blue as ever, the Day Zone sun shining down on him. He took a moment to enjoy it. This was his world, his discovery. He felt blessed to have found this place first. He didn't want to think of what might have happened if someone like, say, Reggie found this place first. As if that stupid bully didn't need another reason to come after him...

He shook his head, getting rid of those thoughts, and he crawled in through the portal. He let out a grunt as he fell the couple of feet, and picked himself up. He quickly brushed himself off, getting the dirt off of his body. He placed his hands on his hips, his mouth stretching in a friendly smile, and he looked left and right. So far, he didn't see anyone. But it wouldn't be long before he would hear his voice and...

"Bucko!"

Yep, right on time.

Rudy turned his head to Snap. The small, blue zoner came rushing towards him, his usual wide grin on his face. Rudy did his best to keep his smile how it was. He needn't allow this zoner to find out he was intending on going somewhere.

"Hey Snap!" Rudy called out to him.

Snap soon reached him. His arms were stretched outward, his eyes twinkling. "You're just in time! There's another polar bowling tournament going on!" He motioned with his hand. "Come on, you have to see it!"

Rudy was tempted to say no. He wasn't interested in any of these stupid games these zoners play. Much of the time, he just didn't understand the point of them. But he couldn't bring himself to say no, and he found himself following Snap close behind.

They ran across the grassy field, around the few treets that stood in their way, and they soon reached a mountainous region of ChalkZone. Snowy Hills. Not exactly the most thrilling of names. He remembered this area from when he had first taken Penny into ChalkZone. He didn't remember why he had, but it no longer really mattered anyway. He continued to follow Snap as he led him up one of the hills.

When they got to the top, he could see the game that Snap was talking about. He recognized it immediately as the same type of polar bowling that Penny had seen. He remembered that she had complained about it because it 'hit the poor little penguins'. Rudy scoffed at the thought. As Snap said, the penguins loved it anyway. Besides, they were just penguins. Who gives a crap what happened to them? He'll never understand people like that.

He and Snap stopped near the edge of the playing field. They weren't allowed to get any closer. Rules of the game and all that. Snap gestured for him to side down, which he did without question. Rudy folded up his arms against his chest and he watched this game.

It was the same old, same old. It was amusing at first, when the polar bear tossed the ball over and knocked the penguins left and right. Especially in his earlier time here. But now it had gotten quite boring. He no longer felt satisfied with it. If he made a few...changes..then it might be good again. But he knew he couldn't do that. Not without getting himself into huge trouble. As much as it frustrated him, he had to remain put here and simply watch.

He wasn't sure how long the game had gone on. They never have any sort of set time. He didn't bother looking down at the watch he drew for himself anymore. His eyes continuously followed the ball, the penguins, and back again. He could feel his heart start to hurt as the hypnotic effect of the movement started to get to him. He immediately averted his eyes, shutting them and shaking his head.

"Hey, are you okay?" Asked Snap.

Rudy looked down at him and gave a smile. "Yeah I'm fine."

Snap frowned in concern. "Are you sure, Bucko?" He pointed his rounded hand at him. "You look a little winded."

Rudy realized that he could use this to his advantage. Faking a yawn, he said, "Yeah, I didn't get much sleep last night." He wiped his mouth as he felt a little drool trickling down the corner of his lip. "I'm sorry to cut this short. But I think I should head back now."

"What?" Snap raised his hands up. "Why? You just got here!" He moved towards Rudy and grabbed onto his hand and tugged on him. "Maybe you could participate in the bowling? That should wake you right up!"

Rudy pondered this for a few moments. The idea was a little intriguing. Things might feel different if he were the one tossing the bowling balls, instead of just merely watching. He believed that he might get a new sensation other than shere boredom if he rolled the balls. But...no. He decided against it. He didn't really want to waste more time here. He was bored of the polar bowling and he sought excitement. He wasn't going to find it here.

He shook his head. "No thanks. Maybe next time?"

"Well I'm not sure..." Snap looked up at him, biting his lip. "These guy don't come here as often as they used to." He motioned his hands towards the bowling bears. "Ever since that day someone went missing from here, they reduced the times they'd show up. If you walk away now, that means you won't see them again until five months from now."

"Yes, I know." Rudy nodded his head.

"So...are you sure you want to leave..?" Snap inquired.

Rudy answered that in a heartbeat. "Yeah, I do." He gave the blue zoner a smile. "But don't worry though. I'll be back later. And then we can do all kinds of exploriarating! Doesn't that sound like fun?"

"Well I guess, but..."

"It's best that he gets a good rest. It's hard to function properly if you don't get enough sleep."

Rudy and Snap jolted at the sound of this voice. They whipped their heads over and they could see Penny walking towards them. Her appearance was rather sudden and out of nowhere. Just how long had she been walking towards them without saying a word?

It was times like these when Rudy regretted giving Penny her own supply of chalk. True there were times that this came in handy. But at the moment, all he could do was think of how stupid he was to let her have some. Now she could get into ChalkZone without him knowing about it. He had been lucky that she hadn't thought to use the magic chalk to try to find him whenever he disappeared. He couldn't take them back either; she'd question why and he wouldn't be able to think of a reason that would be suitable for her. She was pretty smart. She might see right through any lie he tried to give her.

"I'm sorry if I startled you two." Penny said apologetically. "I didn't mean to."

"What brings you into ChalkZone today?" Snap asked.

"I got finished with my homework and I decided to come into ChalkZone afterwards. I got free time." Penny looked over at Rudy. "If you're tired, Rudy, you can go ahead and leave. Snap and I can think of something to do. It's not a big deal." She glanced down at Snap. She gave him a broad smile. "Won't we, Snap?"

Snap immediately smiled at her and gave a nod of his head. "Yeah, we will." He looked back at Rudy. "We understand if you need some more rest, Bucko. Go on!" He motioned his hand towards the direction of his portal. "Run along home and get some sleep before your parents get home and try to drag you to another parade or something!"

Rudy couldn't stop the brief chuckle from coming out of his mouth. In spite of how he felt about these two, the threat he knew they posed, sometimes they did genuinely make him laugh. Snap was a comedy genius at times. That was part of what made him more tolerable than most others. It gave him a reason to have some liking towards him. He was one of the few he didn't wish to punch in the face.

Rudy stretched his arms outward, letting out a long, loud yawn. His lips curled up as his jaws closed. He swallowed and brought his head forward. He stretched his back in one direction until he could feel it snap. He took a moment to appreciate that feeling before he turned around in the direction of his home. There was plenty of areas to disappear to before he got there. This would work out just fine.

"Goodbye, Penny." Rudy said, waving to the two. "Goodbye, Snap."

"See ya, Rudy!" Penny and Snap called out in unison.

Rudy smiled at them before he turned his back to them. The smile he had was quickly replaced with a light frown. As he began to move down the slope, he allowed his mind to wander, many thoughts rushing through his head. He was calculating, like he did almost every day he was here. He was asking himself the same thing over and over again.

Where should he go?

Ah, he believed he already figured something out. He remembered seeing a new shop in ChalkZone City, located near the outskirts of it. There were plenty of unused alleyways there where there were hardly, if any, zoners. That could be a perfect place to strike. And even better, it would allow him to try a little challenge that wasn't too dangerous. He could feel the rush of energy move through him already.

With this newfound energy making him feel stronger, Rudy quickened his pace.

sss

Snap had recognized that expression Penny had given him. The girl didn't need too much intelligence to figure that out. She could see the look in his eyes. That brief flash of excitement. Yet he remained put; he was smart enough to know that he shouldn't just rush into this.

This had happened before. Almost in sequence, almost in a particular pattern. Rudy thought that she and Snap didn't know. But despite his attempts, they did figure it out. He was not all that hard to read...especially for someone like herself. A master at getting others to do and think and say things without realizing it. She knew all the tricks of the trade, ands he could tell that Rudy was lying through his teeth about being tired. A few motions were all it took to give him away.

But she wasn't really angry with him. Why should she be? She had gotten used to this part of him. In fact, if Rudy didn't behave like this, she'd think something was wrong with him. She had come to accept him like this, as did Snap. Sooner or later, they would tell Rudy the truth. But for now, they were fine with pretending not to know.

She gave Snap that particular expression she had developed to communicate with him. The look that was subtle enough for Rudy not to notice, but distinctive enough for Snap to pick up on it. Each time he saw it, she could see him start to swell in excitement. He understood right away what they were going to be doing next.

They were going to be following Rudy.

It was really quite fascinating. Penny couldn't help but feel intrigued by this whole thing. She couldn't help but feel impressed with how Rudy managed to keep up the charade for long periods of time. Not that it was impossible. She and Snap could manage it just fine as well. But Rudy was the one taking the most risks. Did he worry about what might happen if others found him doing this stuff? Perhaps, but he does it anyway. His level of courage astounded her.

Penny took a moment to look all around her. She wanted to make sure that no one else was looking at them. Just as she suspected, the few zoners around here were too focused on the game to really pay attention to them. They were simply too relaxed around them. Not that she really worried if they did watch. A few simple words and she could quell them into looking away. All it really took was a simple understanding and personable skills.

She glanced down at Snap. That same smile from before returned. As she opened her mouth to speak, she took special care not to say any trigger words. If any of the zoners were watching, she could not allow them to get wise to what they were doing. And she knew Snap understood this well as he struggled to keep his body as still as possible.

"So...shall we go?" Penny asked, giving the zoner a smile. "I think if we leave now, we'll get there in time for the first showing."

A careful set of words. Chosen to make any zoner who overheard think she was talking about some sort of play or movie. Indeed, any zoner that looked at her, only two this time, they were blinking in curiosity, but did not bother them. She suspected they were going to ask someone else about this play. They would find something surely. There was always something going on in ChalkZone.

She could see Snap doing his best to keep himself calm. He didn't want to do anything that would give him away. She could see a slight trembling in his body, his face lighting up in excitement. He looked up at her, that grin of his spreading across his face further.

Snap nodded his head and said, "Yeah. Let's get going! I don't want to miss any of it!"

Penny let out a soft, low chuckle at this. She motioned with her hand, prompting him to follow close behind her. "Then let's get going."

The two of them began to walk towards where Rudy had run off to. They didn't need to move too fast to keep up with him. She could see him in the distance. He wasn't even running; he knew better than to do that. Doing so would drag unwanted attention in his direction. And just like him, she and Snap did not run. They merely walked, making sure to go at the right speed to avoid looking strange.

She offhandedly wondered what zoner Rudy was going to target this time. There were so many zoners to choose from. Humanoid, young, old, tall, short, animal, among others. She had seen Rudy go after all sorts of them. And what he would do was sporadic. Never a single pattern. That made him much more interesting to watch. It would become a bit boring if Rudy did nothing but, say, target only small children zoners and bashed their heads in or something.

Snap got a little more excited for stuff like this. Oh sure he acted friendly to most zoners. But he was really good about hiding his true nature. In truth, Snap liked watching others get hurt. He would not show it in front of others, but the sight of it got him excited. That was the true reason he loved polar bowling. He enjoyed watching the penguins getting injured, being tossed about like that. And with Rudy, he would get even more excited as it meant a bit more than just knocking them down with a bowling pin. Rudy was a little more unpredictable like that, something she and Snap both enjoyed.

As they moved into ChalkZone City and walked down the sidewalks, they turned their heads left and right, making themselves appear as though they had no interest in where Rudy was going, or even knew he was there. They followed him by way of his footsteps, which they came to recognize from a distance. Occassionally they'd use their periphial vision as well.

As usual, no zoner really asked what they were doing. Most zoners typically went on with their daily routine. It was usually only when they needed help that they would bother them. Well that and a few other reasons. But today, the zoners had no such reason to speak to them. They could see that they were busy and they did the polite thing by keeping their distance and doing their own thing. A part of Penny was glad for that. When Snap was in this exciteable stage, he might be prone to do something pretty stupid. Oh he'll deny it, but she knew him well enough to know that he could slip up. Emotions were funny like that.

They walked for a while, staying close together. They kept Rudy in their sights most of the time. The boy was clearly in hunting mode. Even from this distance, they could see the way he was moving his head left and right. As they moved in deeper, they realized he was heading into mostly unpopulated territory. That made sense, for what he was about to do.

After a while, they lost sight of him. But they did not fret. They simply continued down the path they had last seen him in. They did not bother picking up the pace or running. They didn't need to. They both knew that, in time, Rudy would reveal their location to them. He wouldn't know it of course, and he would go about as if he really was alone. This was one of the reasons he was so fascinating to watch.

As if on cue, they could hear a small sound. A grunt. It was too faint to draw attention, and it wasn't distress-filled either. She and Snap knew this grunt anywhere. They knew that it meant that Rudy was nearby. They quickened their pace a little as they headed towards one of the alleyways. They caught a glimpse of a shadow moving along, and they both knew they had arrived at the right location.

When they got closer, they took position on a ledge, climbing up and moving along the awning-like structures that went around the buildings. They kept moving until they could see Rudy down below. Wanting to get even closer, Penny drew some rope and weight bearers and they moved down slowly, careful not to make any noise. They kept their eyes on Rudy, watching as he dragged what appeared to be a bound, struggling zoner into the back of this alleyway. Penny and Snap looked at each other and smirked. It didn't matter to them how Rudy succeeded in doing this. They both knew the end result would be the same. That zoner was not going anywhere.

They soon took position on a new, somewhat closer ledge. Penny rested on her stomach while Snap sat up straight, his feet dangling over the edge. The shades of the building kept them obscured from easy sight. They kept their eyes glued to the scene playing out below, Penny out of curiosity and Snap out of excitement.

sss

No... No... It couldn't end this way. Not like this... He had survived attacks by Skrawl, survived some of the most vicious weather to have struck the land, and even survived the Sandman's attack. So for him to go through something like...like this, it was unfathomable. This boy, he had saved ChalkZone. He had helped zoners. Why...why was he doing this...?

He didn't bother trying to speak. His mouth was tied shut and a cloth pressed over it to gave him. The stick figure zoner, shaded purple and wearing a baker's outfit, could only stare up at Rudy in horror and confusion as the boy dragged him deeper in these alleyways. This realization frightened him. Just what was Rudy going to do with him that it required absolute privacy and secrecy like this? The look in the boy's eyes did little to comfort him.

He could hardly remember how he had gotten here. He was certain he had passed out for a short time. A knock on the head and...well maybe not pass out. But he was certain he was disoriented. And Rudy took advantage of that. Now his arms were bound painfully behind his back, the ropes so tight they nearly cut off his circulation. It was this sensation that made him first realize something was wrong. Rudy would never deliberately hurt a zoner and yet he had purposefully tied the ropes tightly. There was no way this could have been a slip up.

His heart pounded against his chest, his head throbbing with many thoughts. He tried to ignore the pain in his wrists and ankles from the tight rope. He tried to ignore how he had been affectively gagged, making him feel even more helpless, unable to do much except mumble. Even that, he was afraid to do, for fear that Rudy would do something to hurt him. He had no idea what to expect of the boy now. What did Rudy have planned for him?

"I can see you are confused. That is understandable." Rudy said. The zoner was horrified when he heard how chilling it sounded. This wasn't the Rudy he knew. "Not many...well actually, no one knows of these..activities..."

Activities? What was the boy talking about? The only things he saw him do was protect ChalkZone, aid zoners that needed it, and explore with his friends. What else could he be doing while in ChalkZone?

"Say, did you know that one fellow? Oh what was his name..." Rudy rubbed his chin thoughtfully. He suddenly pointed a finger into the air. "Ah yes!" He glanced back down at him. "I believe his name was Leniir." The zoner's eyes widened at this. "Ah so you did know him! Was he a friend of yours?"

The zoner nodded his head. Although it would be useless, he still attempted to answer verbally. "Yes."

"Did you ever wonder what happened to him...?" Rudy tilted his head to the side at this. "Did you think that he simply decided to move away?"

The zoner gasped at this, his heart clenching tightly. He could feel a wash of cold blood move through his veins as he looked into Rudy's eyes and swiftly understood where he was going with this. He shook his head in denial, not wanting to believe it. No...no... Rudy wouldn't have done something like this... He wouldn't have killed a zoner, he...

But Rudy's smile grew twisted, shattering any hope he had of misunderstanding Rudy's intentions here. He cringed away from the boy, unable to tear his eyes away from him. He shuddered as he felt Rudy place a hand underneath his chin and lift it up, forcing him to look at the boy.

"You should have heard his whimpering. It was really quite the show. He was gagged the whole time, though, but I'm certain he was calling out for you." Rudy's smile broadened as he saw the zoner shed a few tears. "Oh don't worry. I will make sure you can say something else to him. I'm sure you've been wanting to speak to him for a long time, am I right, Kenith?"

Kenith didn't bother replying. He just shut his eyes, allowing the hot tears to pool down from his face. Oh Leniir... How could he have been so stupid? He should have realized something was wrong. He should have known better than to think that he would leave without saying goodbye. If he had realized something sooner, he could have realized the truth and...

"I see you are eager." Kenith stared up at Rudy, his eyes wide and misty. "Don't worry. We will get started very soon. I just need to do something first."

Kenith watched as Rudy pulled out a needle. The sight of the device, filled with that strange, odd-colored fluid, made him feel nauseous as the wave of horror burned through his chest. He started to struggle on the ground, but there was no way he was getting anywhere. Not tied up like this. Rudy grabbed him and pulled him close, preventing any attempts to get further.

Rudy showed him the needle, chuckling softly as the frightened zoner stared at it, focusing on the sharp tip. It didn't take Kenith long to realize where that needle was going. He jerked himself from side to side, hoping that this would make it difficult for Rudy to inject it. But soon Rudy placed a leg over his body and pressed himself against him, using his weight to hold him down. This made it impossible for Kenith to struggle too much.

"I want to have a little fun. I'd love to hear your pleas, but I can't let you be too loud. This needle will allow me to..quiet you down a little. It'll also negate the need for the ropes, so don't worry. They will come off." Rudy explained as he lowered the needle.

Kenith shook his head, mumbling over and over again, "No!"

The needle made contact. His eyes bulged as he felt the painful prick in his neck. The needle stayed in for a few seconds and then was pulled away. The drug was fast acting. It took only seconds for him to start feeling off. His vision blurred slightly and he found his head relaxing to the side a little. He blinked slowly a few times as he looked up at Rudy, a few tears running down his face, his eyes shining with the question of 'why?'.

It was only after the drug took effect that Rudy removed the cloth. He wasn't so gentle about it either. He pushed the knife roughly against his cheek and pulled upwards. The zoner let out a small yep of pain as he was knicked along his cheek. Rudy grabbed the cloth and tore it away. He repeated the same process, only this time with the ropes, allowing the zoner to open his jaw again.

Kenith opened his jaws and moved them around, stretching out the muscles. He continued to stare at Rudy pleadingly the whole time. He tried to speak something, anything. But at the moment, he was too stunned to think of anything.

Rudy simply smiled at this as he raised up the magic chalk and began to draw. Even in his drugged state, the zoner was able to feel a pang of fear as he saw Rudy raise a knife up. Rudy gripped him tightly and raised the knife over him. Rudy leaned down and whispered into his ear.

"Let's get started..."

That was the last thing Kenith heard before the knife came down and his world erupted in pain.

sss

Snap smiled as he watched Rudy begin to have his fun with the zoner. From this distance, he couldn't really hear Rudy speak the name. But what did it matter? It wasn't really all that important to remember the name of toys. The zoner was going to die soon anyway. Why bother remembering its name?

Okay so the zoner was male. Not that it mattered to Snap. He refused to acknowledge any of the toys by their gender. Not unless the situation called for it. It made it so much easier for him separating the things meant to be played with and the ones that he could call friends. He had very few of these. He didn't need a lot really. He had enough, including Penny and Rudy. What could be better than being friends with creators?

It was often difficult for him to go through day to day life in ChalkZone when these two weren't around. He did his best to keep his true thoughts a secret. He tolerated the other zoners. He had no choice. He was the Great Creator's creation and the one with the biggest tie to him. If any of the other zoners wanted to transfer a message to Rudy and they couldn't do it themselves, they'd seek him out. Or perhaps the zoners would be merely curious and excited to meet him and ask about Rudy.

How annoying... He wished they'd leave him alone. Many of these zoners only spoke to him due to his connection to Rudy. If they knew the truth about any of them, they wouldn't be so eager to bother him. The only thing keeping him from saying a word was because he did not want to disrupt Rudy's fun.

This, what was happening right now to that zoner, it was what made it all worth it. He always looked forward to these sessions. He loved to see what else Rudy would do with these zoners, how many more ways he could toy with them. There would be times where Rudy would even target a zoner he didn't particularly like. Watching them get what they deserve was so satisfying.

Oh he was certain that many would frown upon him for liking this sort of thing. They would wonder if he ever pondered what it would be like on the losing end. Well that was the point. He wasn't on the losing end. This wasn't happening to him. And so long as it wasn't happening to him, it didn't really matter too much, now did it? Besides, he had more of a reason to exist. Unlike those toys, he served a true purpose.

He had always looked down upon most of the zoners. They never quite lived up to his standard. Then again, none of them ever will. He was Rudy's greatest creation and that would never change. Oh true, Rudy could draw a brilliant thing with that magic chalk of his. But it would never match up to his qualities. He was many steps above all of the others. This was a fact that, one day, sooner or later, everyone was going to acknowledge. And those who refused to do so...

Well, he was certain that Rudy would be able to set them straight. He smiled as he looked down at Rudy, who was continuing to hurt the zoner. Yes, Rudy would know what to do. Rudy knew that he was the best zoner around. His looks, design, everything, they were far superior to any of these other stupid zoners. If anyone dares to question that, Rudy would set them in their place. It made Snap wish that such a situation would make itself known. He would love to see how Rudy would take care of those zoners.

He stared up at Penny. She had her eyes glued to the event going on down in the alleyway. She wasn't smiling too much. Her face was filled with curiosity. It was no different to how it always was. Penny always seemed more interested in watching Rudy's actions than actively enjoying it. At least on the same level as he was. She seemed more curious than anything. Snap wasn't sure if he could fully understand why she was curious, but he was still glad that she was. Without her ability of noticing things he sometimes missed and choosing words that kept others away, he wouldn't be able to enjoy moments like this.

He turned his attention back to Rudy. He could see the zoner was trying to crawl away. Rudy must have removed its ropes so it could try to flee. Perhaps as a challenge? Rudy seemed to enjoy the thrills. The zoner's gag was also removed and it appeared to be trying to make noise, hoping that someone will come and rescue it. It didn't appear to work; Snap could not see any other zoners coming in to try to help it.

He felt his heart race a little at the sight of blood. Nice red blood... The sight of it made him feel even more excited. He couldn't help but stretch his smile further. The zoner had already lost quite a bit of its blood. Snap was amazed at how much it was able to handle. Perhaps this toy was going to last a little longer in this game than many of the others.

Rudy was going to town with this particular toy. He was prolonging the pain deliberately, he could tell. He was brandishing the knife, letting the zoner get some good looks at it, and then he'd stab. Not in any vital areas; he would strike at its legs and arms mostly. Blood continuously pooled into the ground below, staining the ground a bright red. Easily seen from where he was. Snap knew it wasn't over yet. He knew that Rudy still had more time to play. By the end of this, he predicted there'd be twice as much blood as there was now. Something that was hardly believable and yet still excited him.

Snap resisted the urge to cheer Rudy on. He tried his best not to yell and tell him to bash the zoner's head in. He tried not to throw out suggestions; he wanted to see what Rudy himself could do. True, he always came up with the best ideas. No other ideas other than his own held much importance to him most of the time. Rudy's were an exception. Rudy and Penny were the only ones whose ideas he genuinely respected. Everyone else, they had no idea what they were talking about. He only pretended to like them so that he didn't have to waste time explaining the obvious to those lowlife vermin.

Snap noticed that Rudy had put the knife away and was now using his foot to kick the zoner in its stomach. Despite the distance, he could practically hear each wham. Snap's eyes twinkled at this, his grin broadening. He could almost hear the zoner wheezing, trying to hold its stomach, roll away, anything to protect itself from getting hurt. It was amusing watching the pathetic little toy squirm around on the ground like that.

Admittingly, a lot of the things Rudy was doing was rather gruesome. Intense and violent. One might say...cruel...

But that only applied if that happened to him, or anyone he deemed worthy of his presence. It wouldn't be such a happy thing then. But this zoner was nothing. No one. Just another little toy that Rudy found. It didn't matter if a toy was hurt like this. It wasn't like the thing could think too much for itself anyway. So why bother being upset?

Then he saw Rudy raise up a break. Snap realized he was going to pound it against the zoner's skull and break it open. Snap leaned in closely, smiling almost wildly as Rudy prepared to strike down. His heart swelled up in excitement, his body trembling with the energy that was rushing through him. If he had a tail, he would be wagging it right now. He continued to watch intently as the brick was raised up and, in a split second, Rudy collided it with the zoner's skull.

Unable to resist himself, Snap found himself jumping up and stretching his arms out at his sides. "Yes!"

He immediately covered his mouth as he realized he had said that too loud. He could see Penny giving him a soft glare as he stared at her with wide-eyes. He looked back at the alleyway and saw that Rudy had been put on edge. He believed he was followed and he was now drawing a weapon.

"Way to go, Snap." Penny hissed at him. "He knows we are here."

Snap didn't feel too guilty at this, though. He simply folded his arms and remarked, "Well he was going to find out sooner or later anyway."

"Yeah but not like this! I..." Penny stopped. She knew better than to try to argue with him. "Okay, fine. Let's just go down there and show our faces to him. You're right, Snap. He was going to learn at some point." She got herself up and brushed herself off. "Let's go to him before he does anything crazy."

Snap nodded in agreement. He got up and followed Penny. He wasn't sure how well Rudy was going to take this. He had a feeling that he might be quite upset. But at the same time, Snap was certain that Rudy might come to understand. Letting someone know of his activities might be a release for him, right?

Well, there was only one way to find out.

sss

Rudy watched in shock as he saw Penny and Snap coming towards him. His body stiffened up, unable to move as they continued to walk in his direction, their eyes slightly narrowed, their faces firm. Many thoughts ran through his head, and he found himself asking multiple questions.

How long were they there?

How long had they been watching?

How much had they seen?

He clenched his teeth. He didn't want to have to do anything to them if he could avoid it. They were a source of entertainment for him sometimes. Well entertainment that wasn't meant to be played with, like say this zoner down on the ground. He would do something to them if he had to, though. If they dare threaten him in any way, he was not going to treat the many differently than these other zoners.

A part of him did hold onto the hope that perhaps they didn't see anything. Maybe they were just annoyed that he didn't go to where he had said he would. Their expressions could pass for annoyance, he believed. If that's the case, then he would just need to figure out a good lie to tell them. He knew them well enough to know what would work and what wouldn't. It shouldn't be too hard for him to figure something out.

But what if they did see something? What if they came here to scold him? What if they were going to try to turn him in so that someone could 'help' him? The thought disgusted him. There was nothing wrong with him. He didn't need to be 'fixed'. And if these two dare try to pull that on him...

Well, he had a plan for that.

For now, he kept himself positioned in front of the zoner. Kenith was too weak to call out and even though he could move, it wasn't like he could slam a fist into the ground or anything. He was completely helpless. Even his groans and whimpers were weak and had little effort put into them. He knew that it was very likely Penny and Snap couldn't hear him.

"Hey guys...!" Rudy said, forcing his mouth into a smile. He lifted up his hand and waved to them. "What brings you here?"

There was no answer. Penny and Snap simply stopped in the alleyway, standing not too far from him. Their expressions didn't change too much. They just watched him in silence. It was as if they were expecting him to say something. He could feel himself begin to panic and he struggled to find something to say.

"I know I'm supposed to be sleeping, but I..I decided to take a stroll here." He moved his arms to one side. "Nothing too strange. I..." He trailed his voice off. He wanted to slap himself. What kind of stupid idea was that?

"Rudy." Snap spoke as he motioned his hand forward. "We know about the zoner." Rudy's eyes widened at this. "You don't have to hide that fact from us." Penny nodded in agreement.

Rudy took in a few quick breaths. They knew? They found out what he was doing? What were they going to do to him now? Those looks in their eyes... They were mostly unreadable, as if they were trying to purposely hide their true intentions from him. This did little to reassure him and he found his mind frantically trying to think of an excuse for why the zoner was in this condition.

"Oh him...?" Rudy said as he took a step to the side, allowing them to see the badly beaten zoner. "He's fine.. I found him like this. I checked him, but he's fine. He just looks bad." Rudy said with a smile. He hoped that this would be convincing enough. "If you want to, we could..."

Penny cut him off. "Look Rudy, I'm only going to say this once.."

Rudy clenched his teeth, feeling his blood slightly heat up. He hoped that Penny didn't say anything that she was going to regret. He really, really didn't want to do anything to her if he could help it. He kept quiet and waited for Penny to finish.

"Stop being a coward and finish the job."

Rudy's eyes widened in shock at this. Glancing down, he could see that Kenith, even in his state, was also shocked by this. Well more than that. His final hope for a rescue had faded away. But not in the way that either of them had expected. Rudy kept staring at Penny, replaying the words over and over in his head. Had he heard right? Did she really say that?

He looked down at Snap next. The small blue zoner had folded his arms up and he was nodding his head in agreement to Penny's statement. He stared down at the injured zoner and back up at him. That look...it wasn't of annoyance, but instead expectation. They were waiting for him to do something more to the zoner. This realization struck him from the left field.

"You..." Rudy started to say as he tried to make sense of this. "You don't mind if...?"

Penny sighed and shook her head. "We knew what you were up to the whole time, Rudy." She held up her hand in gesture. "Snap and I usually follow you whenever you decide to have some 'playtime' as you call it. We were often watching."

"We were going to tell you sooner, but we just couldn't figure out how to say it." Snap said. "Plus, you know how annoying some of these zoners can be. Constantly asking you for help and all."

"So... are you going to keep standing there, mouth agape, or are you going to finish that thing off?" Penny stared over at the zoner, her eyes narrowing slightly. "I think it's time you deliver the final blow. Not like you will get much more enjoyment out of that zoner anyway."

Rudy stared at the two, his mind spinning. He couldn't believe it. Despite hearing it for himself, it was still a little hard to digest. He thought he had known these two well. He thought that he was able to see just how nice and naive they were. He thought that they would have hated him for what he was doing and called the police or something. He was often good about reading minds and understanding intent.

But today, he was proven wrong. These two had shown him that he had been wrong about them the whole time. He could see the looks in their eyes. They weren't lying about this. He saw the way they were looking at the zoner. No shred of concern. Even Penny's urging of him to kill Kenith was not out of sympathy; but out of efficiency. And when they looked at him, they didn't seem angry at all. Never once did they raise their voice to scold him. If anything, their only annoyance was him not hurting Kenith more.

For a moment, all he could do was stand there and stare at them. Only a few seconds passed, but it felt so much longer. It was difficult for him to fully digest this. A part of him couldn't help but be angry. How long had these two fooled him? How long had they made him believe that they were in the dark? He felt his teeth grind together as his mind began to full process this information.

Yet...he could not bring himself to yell at them. There was this...very strange sensation he was feeling. He couldn't tell what it was at first. Slowly, he was able to identify it.

Relief.

He was feeling relieved.

He didn't have to do anything to them, he realized in the end. He didn't have to make them keep quiet. If they knew the whole time what he was doing, and they never once told on him, then there was little reason to believe that would change just because they confronted him today. Not only that, but they seemed like they actually supported these actions. Snap was clearly waiting for him to continue, and Penny seemed eager as well.

For the first time, he began to view these two not just as pieces of entertainment, not just people he hung out with, but as those he could consider as...almost...kind of... friends.

Friends... Such a weird thing for him to say. But it was true. There was no way he could keep denying it. These two, they were the closest he had to what he would consider as friends. They liked to hang out with him. They liked going on adventures with him. They knew of his torturous hobbies and not only did they not mind it, but they were in full support of it. And with that, came a sense of relief. Knowing that he no longer had to hide this from him, and knowing that he had company that could join him, help him.

He never once thought he would genuinely start to care about someone else. He didn't think someone like him was capable of this. But that was how he was starting to feel about Penny and Snap. They were the first who truly understood him, and he had a feeling they were the only ones who would ever think to support him. He knew it would be best if he kept them around. There was no way he was going to throw away this relationship.

With a small smile spreading across his face, Rudy found himself walking towards them. He reached out and he touched them on the shoulder. They stood there, holding still, watching him. There were no hugs. Just stares. Penny and Snap looked at the hand on them, and, slowly, they placed their own on him. They gave him a small smile. No words needed to be spoken for them to understand the message being conveyed here.

They were, now, truly one.

He took a step back and he then stared down at the zoner. He had thought about just ending it right here and now. Even doing nothing could work; Kenith had lost a lot of blood to warrant a slow death. But no, this time, he wanted to do things a little differently. He wanted to do something that would further establish Penny and Snap as his allies...and as his friends. And he knew exactly how to do that.

"Join me." Rudy said as he looked at them. He watched as Penny's eyes glinted with interest and Snap's twisted smile spread across his face. "We can kill this zoner." He paused for a moment, and then used the word he never thought he would. "Together."

There was no further prompting needed. Nothing else to say to convince them. Penny and Snap immediately followed him to the fallen zoner. They knelt down on the ground, each taking position at his sides. Kenith whimpered softly as he looked around. His eyes flashed in horror as he realized that the end was about to come for him. He didn't bother trying to plead, as if he realized there was no chance of escape.

"So...what is the plan?" Snap asked as he rubbed his hands together. "Are we going to beat it to death?"

As tempting as that was, Rudy shook his head. "No, I want to try something...different."

"Oh? And what might that be?" Inquired Penny.

"I will show you."

Rudy took out his magic chalk. He ushered them to back up a little so he would have room. He immediately began to draw in the air, the lines rapidly filling the once empty spaces. He did curves and arches and whatever else he needed to do. He was soon finished and he watched as the grey color rapidly filled in the spaces, the item he created materializing in place, exactly how he had drawn it.

He had successfully secured Kenith to the ground. Bands of metal pressed against his arms and legs and his body, holding him down firmly. The zoner attempted to struggle, but there was little room left for him to move. All he succeeded in doing is hitting his wrists against the metal, causing him to give a weak yelp. He smiled at this. There was no way the zoner was going anywhere. Every part of him was held down.

Well, everything except one: his head.

Rudy turned over to Penny and Snap. "Grab onto his head. We're going to rip it off."

Kenith's eyes widened at this and he tried to shake his head. He spoke weakly, "N-No...please... Let me go..." He didn't get a chance to continue. Snap suddenly pulled his mouth open, grabbed onto his tongue and, using that strength he had given Snap before during his creation, he ripped the zoner's tongue out with surprising ease. Blood splattered on the ground and on Snap, who didn't seem to care.

"Shut up!" Snap snarled at the shaking and crying zoner, whose mouth was now pooling with blood from his torn tongue.

Rudy ignored Kenith's whimpering as he grabbed onto his head, gripping it tightly so his fingers won't slip. With a nod of encouragement, Penny and Snap grabbed on as well. Rudy knew that such a task would have been really hard with just him. But with the help of these two, this should prove to be a slow, but plausible, death for the zoner.

"On the count of three..." Rudy said softly. "One...two...three!"

All three of them began to pull at the head. They held on tightly, gripping the zoner's hair and skin and ears, whatever they could, and pulling as hard as they could. The metal cuffs kept his body on the ground, allowing them to continue yanking back without worry of his body flying in their direction.

Despite the extra strength, this task was still difficult. Rudy could tell this zoner's head was screwed on really tightly. The bones, ligaments, and muscles just weren't giving in. But he wasn't about to give up just yet. He took in a deep breath, tightened his grip, and yanked back even harder. He looked left and right and saw the clenched teeth and narrowed eyes of Penny and Snap. He could tell they, too, were using as much of their strength as they could. This zoner's head might be stubborn, but it wasn't that stubborn.

Then, over time, something began to happen. Rudy could feel something start to pop in the zoner's neck. He could hear Kenith begin to gasp loudly in pain, his breathing getting shaky. A good sign. The neck was starting to relent. Rudy and his friends continued to pull on the head, even looping their arms around the neck to provide further support. They pulled harder and harder until...

...until they heard a loud snap and they knew the neck had been broken. The suddenness of this caused the zoner's body to stiffen and twitch. But they weren't done yet. The skin and muscle were still attached. The neck was loose now, but not yet fully broken. The rest, however, came easy. With more hard pulls, they were able to successfully tear the neck open, fully severing the zoner's head from his body.

Rudy stared at the head that he now cradled in his head. Kenith's eyes had already faded, and he was no longer moving. His body, still on the ground, was going through its death throes. Blood rapidly pooled from the gaping hole where the neck used to be, soon slowing down as coagulation began to take place. Blood caked the corner of his mouth due to his earlier attacks, as well as Snap ripping out his tongue.

This was a monumental moment. This was not like his other kills. This was the first time that he had killed not alone, but with friends. Well those he could consider as friends. Those who supported what he was doing and could help him have even more fun. He couldn't help but smile as he stared down at Kenith's head. This was the beginning of a new age for him. He took a moment to smile at Penny and Snap before taking a step towards them, allowing them to put their hands on the head as well.

Then, as one, they held it up together, a sign that they were now a team.

sss

Bobby Sue couldn't believe it. Rudy Tabootie, that lying, cheating boy that she had a crush on a few months ago, had actually come over and declared his love to her. And in front of her family, too. There was some disgruntlement, which was to be expected, but Rudy easily won them over with a beautiful diamond horse he drew for her. It wasn't with her now, but she couldn't wait until she got a chance to ride on it.

It was still a bit sudden. She thought that he had given his heart away to those other zoners. Like the blue one. What was his name? Snap? Yeah him. And if the Doofi were to be believed, didn't Rudy also have a thing for his female friend, Penny?

Well what did it matter anyway? She couldn't bring herself to hate him. She was created to love him. Even though she was quite angry at him before, her creation trait often overrid her anger. She couldn't help but still feel attracted to him. She knew he was only ten, but in her mind, she didn't care. Perhaps it was because zoners don't care about ages so much. Everyone lives forever. Doesn't matter if they have the body of a child or an old person Ages just meant so little.

A part of her wondered if that was the reason Rudy ran off before. Perhaps he was unnerved by the whole age thing. A part of her felt a little guilty about that. Perhaps she should have taken it a little more slowly with him, let him know it was all right in zoner years. Well, at least now she had the chance to make it up to him.

"It's right over here, Bobby Sue!" Rudy said as he walked along side her. His hand was looped around her in an almost loving manner. "I set up a huge party for us! You know, in celebration of our love and all..." He leaned in and gave her an almost seductive smile. "I'm sure you'll love it."

Bobby Sue giggled. "Yeah, I'm sure I will!"

Bobby Sue didn't say anything else as Rudy continued to lead her down towards the building. It was a little smaller than she had hoped for. But there was still plenty of room. Rudy had already invited her family to come along. They had arrived earlier, he said. There was certainly enough room in this large red barn to fit in her family. She liked the look of the barn. So nice and old fashioned, just the way she preferred it.

She wondered what kind of games there would be. One couldn't have a party without games, right? She felt her heart flutter in joy as she imagined the fun they were going to have. She was aware that Rudy would still need to go back to the Real World for food and water. But she didn't mind. So long as her beloved was able to return to him each and every day, she was happy.

As they got closer, Bobby Sue began to notice something. The barn was quiet. That did seem a little off. Her family, especially her brother, weren't the quiet type. And Rudy did not mention this was a surprise party. Well actually, he wouldn't have mentioned the party at all if it were meant to be a surprise. There was the possibility that he had let it slip out, but... No, he would have reacted to it.

She didn't think too much of it, though. Her family was probably purposely holding themselves back for her. She was the wedding girl after all, and they were going to have a wedding here after the party. Quite unusual, but Rudy stated that their wedding should be special. She had to admit, he was quite clever in that. Who would have thought about putting an after wedding party before the party itself?

If her family wasn't waiting for them, they might just be tired or enjoying some alcoholic drinks. She wasn't allowed to drink any of them, but her family could as they were all of age. Some of them did get pretty tired after drinking. They'd pass out.

She couldn't wait to see the looks on their faces when she comes in. She had a wedding dress design she was going to have Rudy draw for her. She believed it would be rather stunning. Even her father, who was a bit strict about this sort of stuff, would approve of it. It was a nice blend of both worlds, her own spin plus her dad's traditionalism. Yes, it was quite perfect.

Soon they reached the door of the red barn. It was closed. She noticed there was still no sound, but that hardly bothered her as wave upon wave of excitement shot through her body, her mouth spreading into a wide grin. She couldn't believe it. After all this time, she was finally going to have a proper wedding. She looked over at her husband to be. He was smiling at her, those eyes brimming with emotion. He motioned towards her, gesturing her to go in.

"Ladies first." Rudy said.

Bobby Sue gave a giggle, bringing her hands against herself, the bouquet of flowers still clutched tightly in her hands. Giving her beloved one more big smile, she turned her head and she rushed towards the barn gleefully. Her heart swelled with excitement and she couldn't help but let out a squee, her voice overflowing with happiness. Her mind flashing all kinds of wonderful images for a few seconds, she soon arrived at the door and she grabbed onto it. She took in a deep breath and, with a single pull, she yanked it open.

The smile on her face immediately dropped. The happiness she had felt was quickly replaced with horror. Her heart clenched tightly as her eyes slowly turned left and right at the scene before her.

Her family was here all right. But not the way she had expected. Their bodies laid all over the ground. Stabbed, suffocated, broken necks, burned, all of these were present on her relative's massive, multi-headed, multi-limbed body. They were pushed up against a corner, a trail of blood leading up to them. Her big brother had been beheaded and was laying down in a pile of what she guessed was his own throw up, as if he had been poisoned right before. The chicken had been fried up and feathers pulled off.

This sight alone was enough to make her gag, but that wasn't even getting into her parents. In the middle of the room, underneath the banner that said 'Congratulations Rudy and Bobby Sue', her parents laid in a pool of their own blood, their intestines having been ripped out and laid on the ground. To her horror, she saw that someone had moved them, forming a few heart shapes. Mocking heart shapes that taunted her. This, combined with her parents' wide, unseeing eyes looking in her direction, their mouths hanging open, was enough to make her lose her lunch. She dropped down on her knees and she let it all out.

Her wretching soon transformed into sobbing. Her body shook as tears fell from her cheeks. She forced herself to look up at her murdered family. She looked at their expressions of shock and pain and horror. She sniffled and took in a shaky breath. Who... Who could have done this to her family...?

"Bobby Sue..."

The girl turned around and she could see Rudy standing there, his arms folded behind his back. Without thinking, she rushed over towards him and latched onto him. She cried against his shoulder, seeing his comfort and reassurance.

"O-Oh Rudy.. I-I-It's horrible!" Bobby Sue cried. "L-Look at what happened to my f-f-family...!"

"Oh don't worry, Bobby Sue." Rudy said as he gently patted her on the back. "You will see them again soon enough."

Bobby Sue's eyes widened at this. She moved herself a little away from Rudy as she stared into his eyes. She could see that all warmth from them was gone, and his mouth was ticked into a sickened smile. The look of his eyes, filled with so much cruel intent. Bobby felt her heart clench as she took a few steps away, watching as Rudy slowly shut the door.

"R-R-Rudy..?" She whimpered. "Wh-What are you...?"

"Oh Bobby Sue... You really should learn to think before you go off trusting people so easily." Rudy took a few steps towards her. She felt her blood run cold at his tone of voice. "You never knew me that long. If you did, you could have easily avoided this."

Bobby Sue shook her head in denial. No... No, this couldn't be right. Rudy was a kind, sweet, gentle boy. That's what her creator had told her through her creation process. Rudy had helped her. Rudy had helped ChalkZone if she remembered right. This... This wasn't how Rudy woudl really act. This... This had to be some kind of mistake.

Rudy was getting closer to her. She cringed away from him, her legs trembling in fear. She looked left and right. There had to be some way to get out of here. She soon saw a window that wasn't too far away. Yes, that just might do. She took one last look at Rudy before she made a dash towards the window, her feet carrying her as fast as they could. In a few seconds, she would be able to get the window, climb out, and...

Suddenly a pair of hands grabbed onto her. She let out a grunt as she was pulled back. Her feet slipped out from underneath her. She let out a yelp of pain as one of her legs bent a little awkwardly. She had little time to correct it as she was suddenly yanked roughly to her feet. She let out a few heavy pants and she looked left and right at her captors.

"Penny...? Snap...?" She whispered under her breath. She watched as they both smiled at her. Snap's was wide and eager, while Penny's was more relaxed, but still disturbing. She couldn't believe it. These...these two were in on this...?

She looked back at Rudy, watching as he came towards her. She knew without a doubt that this was Rudy. He did not have the look of a zoner. But at the same time, she found it so hard to believe. This...this was nothing like how she imagined Rudy would be like. Had she really been in love with such a...a..monster..? The very thought of it made her feel nauseous. Unable to handle the waves of emotion tearing through her chest, of the death of her family to the discovery of Rudy's true colors, she lowered her head and began to cry.

"Now now, no need for tears, Bobby Sue." Rudy sneered as he reached over and cupped her chin. He forced her to look at him. "We are going to have a lot of fun with you." He nodded towards his friends. "Aren't we?" Penny and Snap both gave a smirk.

Bobby Sue struggled to get herself free. "Y-You will pay for this! You monsters! You will pay for what you did to my family!" Her voice was shaky, shrill, and filled with pain. Rapid tears pooled out of her eyes. "You hear me?! I'll make you all suffer!"

"On the contrary..." Penny said.

"It is you who will be on the receiving end." Snap finished.

Bobby Sue let out a grunt as the two shoved her into the ground on her stomach. She grunted as she felt Penny and Snap grab onto one of her legs. Her eyes bulged and she let out a scream, or at least she would have if Rudy hadn't covered her mouth with his hand. Burning hot pain spread through her leg as she felt it break. She let out a loud, mufflfed shrill, her vision blurring and becoming distorted with tears. She lowered her head as her screams faded into whimpers. Rudy soon pulled his hand away, allowing her loud sobs to fill the air.

She looked up at Rudy, staring at him pleadingly. Her mind ran with many thoughts. She couldn't believe that this was the person that she had loved, the one that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with.

What a joke...

What a cruel, sick joke...

"Okay, Bobby Sue..."

She looked up as she saw Rudy kneel down in front of her, his mouth ticked into a sadistic grin. He tightly gripped her jaw, pressing his fingers against the skin. She winced at this. She could then feel Penny and Snap hold her arms down, securing her in place for him. Her eyes widened as she saw Rudy lift up a long, serrated knife. Stained with her family's blood...

"You have such a pretty face, Bobby Sue..." Rudy cooed softly.

She shuddered at this comment. It would have been so comforting and beautiful before, but considering the circumstances, all it did was bring her dread and horror. She didn't like the way he was looking at her, and that knife... She already had a good idea of what he was going to do with it.

"But it needs some work..." Rudy tilted his head to one side as he reached over towards her face. He gently rubbed his knife-wielding hand against her face, careful to avoid hitting her with the knife. "I should really help you with that."

Despite the agony in her legs, Bobby Sue was able to find her voice. "N-No thanks.. I-I'm good..."

Rudy tightened his grip, giving off a cold chuckle, intermixed with his friends'. "Oh, but I insist..." He smiled almost gleefully as he brought the knife down towards her face. "Now hold still.. I'm just going to start with your right eye..."

Bobby Sue's screams of agony filled the barn.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: Originally I was not going to make a continuation of this as it was meant as a oneshot. But then this idea came to mind and I felt it worked best as a continution of this oneshot rather than being posted as a separate story.

I am not sure if I will continue from here.

sss

No, this wouldn't do. Not this either. Gawd, wasn't there anything here worthwhile to check out? He had a ton of photographs. Surely one of them would hold the key to him having some kind of fun, right?

But no, these targets wouldn't do at all. They lived in a too populated section of ChalkZone City and people would notice if they disappeared. Not that he wasn't willing to take the risk, but even he knew that it would be too foolish to try something on these zoners. At least, not until he figured out a way to ensure that the zoners don't find out it was him.

Targeting someone from a less populated section was always a good idea. That made it most likely that no one would find out what he had been doing. The thought brought a smile to his face. It was really quite amusing how none of the zoners seemed to catch on even now. Or perhaps they just didn't care as much about their rural friends.

Oh well, it didn't really matter. He just continued searching through the album, grumbling to himself as he attempted to figure out what he was going to do. He wasn't going to give up just yet.

And why should he? After all, he was the Great Creator. He could do anything if he just set his mind to it.

But gah, these stupid photos... Why hadn't he gone to the countryside more often? He couldn't even go after Bobby Sue. He and his friends had already dealt with her. She was dead and nothing would bring her back. Not even his desire to kill her again.

Rudy chuckled darkly as he recalled the fond memories of that incident. He had taken his sweet little time with her, slowly cutting her with his knife, the same one that he had used on her pathetic family. Her screams still echoed in his head and provided him with some comfort of sleep at night. He had been longing to kill her after the way that she had tried to make him her husband without him agreeing. The twisted little zoner needed to be dealt with swiftly, and so she was. Minus the swiftly part of course.

But this wasn't enough to satiate him. His eyes furrowed once more as he looked down at the photographs of potential targets. Finding another toy to play with was getting a bit more difficult. It seemed that the zoners were becoming aware of disappearances outside of ChalkZone and were flocking into the city. Even with the help of his two friends and partners in crime, Penny and Snap, it was still hard trying to separate a zoner out from the crowd.

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard the sound of the door opening up. Rudy shot his head up, his body stiffening, only to realize that it was just Penny. He let out a sigh of reliefe and his body relaxed.

"I forgot you were coming." Rudy stated.

Penny nodded her head before shutting the door behind her. "You know our folks don't mind us hanging out if we say that we're doing homework." She shrugged her shoulders before she took notice of the pictures. "Looking for a new plaything?"

Rudy furrowed his eyes and looked away a little. "Trying to, at least." He gritted his teeth tighter. "I know I said I wanted a challenge, but it's no fun if I don't have a chance to get something to play with."

"I understand. I admit, the zoners were a bit smarter than I thought. Who knew that they'd realize the city was safer." Penny took a few steps towards him. She soon sat down next to him. She looked at him with a soft yet stern expression. "Don't give up. I'm sure there's something that you could do."

"Thanks for the words of encouragement." Rudy grumbled.

Rudy looked back down at the pile of photographs on the ground, curling his fingers inward, pressing them against the ground in frustration. His green eyes skimmed over them. He knew that Penny was right ultimately. He could eventually find some prey that he could hunt down. But it wouldn't be anyone in here. No, it would have to be somebody else. But just whom?

There were a number of zoners that most of those things wouldn't care had gone missing. Perhaps he should target one of them? The thought intrigued him, especially since a good number of them would fight back. Or perhaps he should go for a zoner that had wronged him before, similar to Bobby Sue. Someone that he could go very slowly with and listen to the screams of for hours. The thought filled him up with adrenaline.

But then he realized something. Even if he did manage to find someone that he could play with this time, what happens when that runs out? Would he be forced to take higher risks than he had intended? He would need a way to catalogue the zoners. Someone who knew quite a bit about them. Biclops would be a good option but that giant was still under the impression that he was helping the zoners, and he needed that guy fooled if he wanted magic chalk. He would have to find a more permanent solution to that eventually.

"I think I have an idea." Penny spoke up. In a display that almost seemed to show she had mind reading powers, a way of showing how well she could read expressions, she said, "What about that lonely old hermit, Barney? Even after you 'saved' everyone, even the smelly old tortoise, he still likes to hide."

Rudy started at Penny with wide eyes, blinking slowly. Realization rapidly dawned on him and he could feel his heart fluttering a little in excitement. "Penny, you're a genius!"

Penny smirked at this. "I know."

Of course, Barney would make for a good target. He was usually alone in the middle of nowhere. And while he is well known in ChalkZone, his hermit-like ways made it hard for any zoner to see him anyway. No one would even realize he's gone, except maybe the king. But if Rudy moved quickly enough, he could get what he wanted out of Barney and dispatch him, if necessary, before King Mumbo Jumbo would find him. He could easily handle this.

Rudy quickly got up to his feet, feeling his muscles ache from the quick movements. As he headed towards the chalkboard, a thought crossed his mind. He looked over his shoulders and stared over at Penny.

"Do you think Snap would want to come with us?" He asked.

Penny cocked an eyebrow at him. "Well of course he would! You know how he gets about these sort of things." She put her hands on her hips, leaning herself a little to one side. "He's been excited to 'play with another toy' ever since we took care of that dumb rat zoner."

Rudy remembered that. It was probably the most excited Snap's ever gotten. He wondered how he would react to going after the elusive Barney. There was only one way to find out. "Let's go find him, then. I'm sure he wouldn't want to miss out on our delightful fun."

Penny just smiled at this. "No, he would not."

The two children headed towards the chalkboard. With a quick flick of the wrist, Rudy created a portal. The two of them headed on inside.

sss

"Oh you really mean it? We're going to...?!"

Rudy gave a wry smile as he watched how excited Snap looked. He could not only hear it, but he could also feel the zoner's excitement oozing from his body. He was surprised that Snap could contain himself for even a few seconds. He nodded his head once. "Yeah, Snap. I've finally found another target, and I want you and Penny to help me.

Snap clenched his fists tightly, pulling them towards himself as he shut his eyes, shouting the same kind of glee that he would pretend to show for something more mundane, like a simple childish game or what not. "Yes!"

Penny cocked up an eyebrow. "Aren't you getting a little bit too excited, Snap?" She raised her hand up in gesture. "We haven't even gone after the target yet. Why don't you celebrate after we caught it?"

"Well how about we go sooner rather than later? I want to give Barney a little payback for how he nearly let me die in that stupid creature, whatever it was." Snap muttered.

Penny put her hands on her hips. "I was in there, too, you know."

"Yeah, yeah..." Snap waved his hand dismissively. "I just look forward to tearing that guy's antenna off for..."

"Stop it!" Rudy raised his hand up. Penny and Snap stopped where they were in mid-sentence and mid-posture. They both looked over at Rudy, their eyes blinking rapidly. Rudy exhaled slowly as he tried to keep himself calm. "We shouldn't be wasting our energy like this. Let's try to save it for when we go hunting, all right?"

Penny and Snap looked at each other. Then they stared back at Rudy. They nodded their heads slowly and said, "Yes, Rudy."

The ten year old boy sighed with relief. It hadn't been easy working with these two. Well mostly Snap, given how overly excited he would get at times. There were moments when this became more of a hindrance, although he did admire the zoner's enthusiasm.

But on the upside, it was easier taking some risks than it used to be. He wouldn't have thought of going back to the Impenetrable Forest without these two. He recalled how dangerous it was. It would be easy to target some of the zoners there that caused them grief, but he still felt Barney was their best bet. They could wring him of whatever information that he had and they could use this to catalogue the zoners and find perfect targets, or even information regarding items that they could use.

This was why Penny was going to create something that would rip the information out of Barney. Not remove it completely from his system of course, more like forcefully copy. Rudy didn't find much enjoyment in reducing Barney's intelligence. Not only was that moment annoying, but he also couldn't see him suffer and react properly if Barney's intellect took a blow. No, best to make sure that he did understand it all.

Rudy didn't want to wait much longer. He had gathered these two up and they had spoken a little bit about their plan. If they wanted a chance to get this done before he and Penny had to leave, it was best to do it now. And the zoners would not notice them so easily. As much as that would have excited him, he wanted as little interruption as possible.

Rudy motioned his hand towards the two. There wasn't any need to say any words. They knew what he meant. The two of them headed down the steps of the treehouse carefully, taking their time. There weren't any zoners nearby, but even if there were, none of them would really pay attention. They would just think that they were going to have some fun.

Well they weren't wrong.

Rudy quickly drew a mode of transportation. This hovercraft should do nicely. They would be in the Impenetrable Forest in no time. As soon as he had gotten in, Penny and Snap followed suit. The hatchet closed and the two of them sped off into the distance.

It was time to have some fun.

sss

Barney took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly. He couldn't help but smile as he stared out at the garden in front of him. King Mumbo Jumbo had been right. Planting a garden was just what he needed to forget about the stress earlier. He raised up his water can and moved it across the flowers, making sure they all got something to quence their thirst.

King Mumbo Jumbo should be back relatively shortly. He had been visiting him for the week and he recently left to get something to eat or... Well he wasn't sure entirely what it was. But it didn't matter. Barney would be just happy to have him back.

He still felt some sting of the past, recalling what he had been forced to do. He never wanted to relive that again. He was grateful that Rudy had been able to undo the spell and had returned King Mumbo Jumbo to him. He had wanted to thank the boy more properly, but maybe that would come one day. He probably understood anyway. He couldn't imagine him not getting constantly thanked by the zoners. They owed their very lives to him.

Barney let out a sigh and moved those thoughts out of his head for now. He began to head back into the small underground home. It was similar to the one he used to live in, though a tad bit roomier. He moved along the walls just for the fun of it, enjoying the sensation of repeatedly going upside down then right side up.

But his enjoyment didn't last completely. There was a small pang of worry that began to settle into his stomach once he saw just how much time had really gone by. King Mumbo Jumbo should have been back by now. Was he stuck somewhere? Did he get trapped? The centipede zoner bit his lip at this. He hoped nothing bad happened to thim.

His train of thought was interrupted when he heard a knock on the door. He watched the door carefully, feeling some confusion coming over him. He thought that this place was hidden and King Mumbo Jumbo wouldn't knock like this. What was...

Barney's antenna curled in slowly, forming circles, as he headed towards the door slowly. He reached out with a shaky hand and gripped the knob. He held on for a few moments before he forced it open.

"Hello, Barney..." Came a familiar voice.

Barney immediately put his hand to his chest, sighing in relief. "Oh, Rudy Tabootie, it's just you..."

Rudy smiled back at him. "May I come in? I brought my friends with me."

Barney nodded his head. "Of course you can." He swung his arm outward. "Please make yourselves at home."

"You don't mind that we showed up unannounced?" Snap asked, his voice something of an odd tone. "You do value your privacy, I mean."

Barney waved his hand dismissively. "No, not at all. You're more than welcome here! I don't mind." Barney gave them a wide smile. "I appreciate the company."

Penny nodded her head. "I'm sure you do."

Barney couldn't help but notice something felt a little...off about the three today. He wasn't quite sure what it was. Perhaps it related to how they were speaking to him? Was it because they sounded pretty droll right now? Was he just imagining things? He was used to them sounding more energetic than this. Did he perhaps say something wrong?

Nah, he shouldn't think too deeply into it. It was likely nothing serious. Perhaps they just ran into some minor trouble and were exhausted or something else could have happened. It was even possible that he was looking into things too deeply and they were just fine. He shouldn't be judging his guests so quickly. They had just arrived, after all.

Barney was about to get up and get something to drink for the trio, but he then realized that Rudy and Penny couldn't have anything. But there was still someone who might be willing to have something. Snap did look a little thirsty and a bit energetic. He could sense the shaking in his legs. His antenna were quite useful for a lot of this, and this was just one of them.

"Would you like something to drink, Snap?" Barney asked as he uncurled a finger in Snap's direction. "You look like you could use some."

Snap frowned a little and he looked like he was about to respond like he had been offended. But a quick glare from Rudy and Penny shut his lips up and he resorted to smiling and nodding. "Y-Yes, please..."

Barney noticed how Snap sounded more upset than usual when he spoke. This caused the centipede zoner to rub his hands in a nervous fashion. "I'm sorry if I offended you."

As if nothing had happened, Snap shook his head rapidly and smiled a bit more broadly. "No, it's fine. You didn't do anything wrong." He motioned his hand towards the kitchen. "Do you have anything hot to drink? Like hot chocolate?"

Barney tapped his chin thoughtfully before he said, "As a matter of fact, I do!" He raised his finger up. "I'll go make that right now." He paused for a moment before he looked over at Rudy. "And if you don't mind, I'd like to have a word with you."

Rudy nodded his head. "Sure, no problem."

At this, Barney quickly disappeared into the kitchen. He didn't spend a lot of time in here. All he needed was to heat up some water and milk and mix it in with a packet of hot chocolate. The whole process took only a few minutes. He made sure to stir it up real good before he turned around and headed back to where his guests were sitting.

He immediately headed over to where Snap was, holding out the cup to him. "Here you are."

Snap smiled at him and said, "Thanks." He took the cup from him and he went down to drink it, only to stop and look at it, frowning. "It looks weird."

"Oh?"

"Yeah...just look here."

Barney leaned in to try to see what Snap was talking about. But he saw nothing. "I don't get it. What are you..."

Suddenly, Snap splashed his face with the hot liquid.

The effect was immediate. Barney could feel the seering hot liquid touching his skin even before it actually hit his face. His shut his eyes immediately to protect them and he brought his hands forward. He let out a loud, painful screech as he struggled to move back. He wiped his hands at his face desperately, feeling the steam rising up from his skin.

"Aaaaah! What the fuck?! Why did you..."

Barney felt something pushing against him. In his pained daze, he wasn't able to see or figure out what it was. Instead, he just tripped and he fell into the ground painfully. He laid there, shuddering and whimpering in agony. The hot chocolate did start to stop burning him, but the pain still lingered, causing him to cry softly.

He looked up at where Snap was, his mind going a million miles an hour. He had no idea just what had happened. He didn't know why Snap was looking at him that way. This... This wasn't like him. Sure he could be a pain at times, but that zoner was usually kind and caring. What in the world made him do something like that? Had he deeply offended him somehow?

He had expected Rudy or Penny to say something to the zoner. But they were just...standing there. Neither of them looked at all fazed by what their friend had done. The realization of this made his heart clench tightly in confusion. And when he saw how they were looking at him...

"G-G-Guys...?" Barney managed to ask. He pushed himself up from the ground. He could feel dread moving over his body, invading his heart with burning ice. "Wh-What's going on here...?"

Rudy looked over at his friends. They gave a slight nod to one another. Rudy then looked back at him. The boy gave him a smile, but it wasn't the same, cheery smile like before. It reminded Barney of when Rudy had tied him upside down to make him help him save the other two. But this looked more than just mischevious. It was like...

No... It couldn't be... Could it...? He had checked his database regarding this boy and everything seemed to check out. Had he missed something? Well, he never did read anything in full and... He froze at this realization, feeling a lump forming in his throat.

"We didn't just come to visit you. We wanted to ask you for information." Rudy said. He began to make his way slowly towards the bug-like zoner. "Just a few little things... It won't take long at all. I promise."

Barney could feel his body shaking. He still tried to control himself, trying to remind himself that this was Rudy. Surely there had to be a logical reason for all of this. He was the one who saved ChalkZone before. He wouldn't be doing this without good reason, right...?

But the look in the boy's eyes... Something just didn't feel right with it. Something felt wrong. Something was amiss here. Barney didn't want to believe that it could be... He had to be looking at something wrong. He had to be misinterpreting this, somehow.

Rudy seemed to notice the confusing in his eyes. A smile crept along his face. "Your eyes... I can see what they are doing. They're trying to find the boy who saved you, and your friend." He let his teeth show in a grin. Penny and Snap both wore similar smiles, creating a creepy aura in the room. "Well I hate to break it to you...but that boy never existed."

Barney felt like something exploded inside of him. He could feel bile rising up inside of him. He couldn't bring himself to speak. He just stood there, his body largely rigid, his mouth hanging open.

"Why the long face? Is this hard for you to grasp?" Penny asked. "I thought you were supposed to be a smart one, with all that information tucked away inside of you."

Snap elbowed her and spoke with a grin, "Maybe he forgot it already."

Penny chuckled. "He does seem to lose his head very easily."

Barney wasn't sure what to make of this. He had never heard these three speak of him that way. They had always been so kind and gentle. He had thought they were his friends. Had he misjudged them? Should he have allowed them to perish? Should he have...

And then it dawned on him. Like a slap in the face, a realization cracked its way into his head and he drew in a sharp gasp. He cringed away from the trio the best that he could. He could feel his body starting to tremble, his legs struggling to keep him held up. "I-It was you..." He whispered. He pointed his finger at Rudy. "Th-That balloonemia disease... That hadn't been an accident... had it...?"

Rudy widened his eyes for a moment before they narrowed back into his sly smile. "Okay so maybe you are smart. Congratulations on figuring it out."

Barney felt like his body was shattered in ice in that very moment. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. He took a few steps back, but he couldn't get far. He could feel Penny and Snap already grabbing him by his arms. Barney didn't attempt to struggle. There was no point.

"Smart guy not to squirm." Penny commented coolly.

Snap hissed, "It would have been more fun that way."

Barney flinched at this but he kept his attention on Rudy. He saw how the boy was casually stroding towards him. The centipede zoner gulped and he said, "D-Did you do anything to... m-my friend...?"

Rudy stared at him in confusion. The smile was quick to return. "Of course not.. But that could change depending on how cooperative you are." Barney widened his eyes at this. "We'll be glad to leave King Mumbo Jumbo alone if you do what we tell you to do. If you do, he will not be scratched."

Barney gulped at this statement, not doing anything to dare challenge it. What could he really do about it, anyway? He could tell just how serious he was being and he knew, just from that tone of voice, that he was better off not assuming it was anything but serious. He didn't attempt to say anything as he lowered his head a little.

This act seemed to annoy Snap. "Why aren't you fighting more? Come on, I wanted a little fun here!"

Penny nudged him a little, causing Snap to growl and glare at her. Penny just hissed back, "We'll have plenty of other targets. We don't have to 'play' with every zoner we catch, you know! Or are you that impatient?"

Snap gritted his teeth, his body giving a few shakes. "I've waited long enough to get my hands on this guy." Barney flinched as he felt Snap begin to twist his arm out of anger. He then could feel the zoner's white eyes, suddenly now so intimidating, burrowing through his face. "I've been wanting to get back at you for how you nearly left me to die in that beast!"

At first, Barney had no idea what Snap was talking about. But then it dawned on him and he could feel himself going pale. Oh shit... He really did do something like that, hadn't he? And Rudy did seem to genuinely care about these two at least. Was that incident finally going to come back and bite him in the ass? All he could do was swallow hard and hope that it wasn't the case.

Rudy took a step closer, a glare replacing his previous smile. It wasn't aimed at him, though, much to the bug zoner's surprise. Instead, he was jabbing his finger at Penny and Snap's direction. The two immediately stopped their bickering as Rudy came towards them.

"Enough fighting, you two. We came here largely for information. Worry about what we'll do to the zoner after, okay?"

Penny and Snap nodded their heads. This seemed to satisfy Rudy.

Barney could feel a cold shudder as he heard Rudy refer to him as just 'the zoner' instead of using his actual name. It was still so hard for him to believe that this was happening. Granted, perhaps he should be reacting more emotionally than this. Perhaps he was just feeling really...numb right now.

And why shouldn't he be? He had just learned that there were some things about Rudy that he didn't know. He would have known these things if he had just checked his own database first. He carried it around with him all the time, for fuck's sake. Why hadn't he thought to read up more on Rudy? His body was always sucking in more information from around ChalkZone and...that just sounded really creepy, didn't it?

And the fact that Rudy purposefully caused the balloonemia disease to spread... The thought brought nausea to his stomach and filled his veins with burning ice. He felt as if something moved in his chest everytime that he took a breath. He couldn't imagine Rudy wanting to deliberately cause all that pain. And for what? To get a sick laugh out of it? Why did...

Barney's thoughts were interrupted when he could see Rudy staring right back at him, those eyes narrowing further. The smile was gone still and Barney had a feeling that things were about to get serious. He cringed back as far as he could as Rudy got in close to him, leaning in as those green eyes penetrated his very core.

"I know that you hide a lot of interesting information..." Rudy began. Barney flinched as he felt Rudy stroking his cheek. "I think we could make use of it. I'm sure you have all sorts of things that we would love to know. Will you be a doll and...let us copy the information?"

Barney tried to smile, but the fakeness shined through with how shaky his attempt at smiling was. "A-And how are you going to do that...? Are you going to write it all down? That would take forever!"

"Indeed it would. I had a feeling you'd figure that part out. But what you probably didn't guess is that we thought ahead and already have a solution." Penny said in a disturbingly calm voice, joined in with a small, haughty smile. "That's why I brought this along."

Barney gave a gasp when he saw the small device that Penny pulled out. He stared at the device, which could be best described as one of those sticks put into computers to transfer data, which made sense for what they wanted to do. But he knew how it felt when someone else touched his side keyboards. Who knew what it would feel like if that thing...

"Y-You're not going to stick that inside of me, are you?" Barney asked in a low whisper. "P-Please...there has to be another way."

Rudy simply stared at the zoner, raising an eyebrow. "What are you so worried about, Barney? It's not like we're ripping the information from you. You're not going to turn into that babbling idiot from before." Rudy seemed to shudder at this. "Because quite frankly, I couldn't stand you like that."

This did not settle the zoner down. It wasn't losing knowledge that he was worried about. He just didn't want to imagine what it would feel like to have some information forcefully copied from him, to have something that shouldn't be there sticking out of him. It terrified him and he just...

Barney soon couldn't hold still for any longer. Oh he would try and try, but in the end, he could feel his wings fluttering rapidly. And then he jumped into the air, trying to take off.

But the weight of Penny and Snap pulled him back down. Or rather, their tight grasps and pulls did, as well as yanking him at an odd angle to make it harder to fly. Barney attempted to rip himself free, spinning himself in a small circle, but this wasn't enough to help him escape. He flapped harder and harder, but when Rudy joined in, grabbing onto his leg, he knew that he wasn't going to escape.

Though Snap seemed to enjoy this.

"Oh yes, this is what I'm talking about! Keep flapping those wings, Barney! You're making this a lot of fun!"

Barney couldn't do this for much longer. He might have been able to carry them before, but even then they were heavy, and for them to purposefully pull him down, he just didn't stand a chance. He suddenly felt himself dropping back into the ground.

Immediately, Penny and Snap held him down more forcefully, bending his arms at odd angles. He grunted when he felt Rudy's foot pushing down on him, holding his head against the ground, turned on its side. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Penny's annoyed glare and Snap's gleeful expression. And then there was Rudy's frown, which didn't seem to hold outright malice, but instead disappointment.

"Oh Barney... I drew you those wings so you could fly away but you failed to do it this time. Then again, how often do you really need them? You've lived years without them." Rudy turned his gaze to the wings, his eyes furrowing deeper. "Maybe it's time something is done about that."

Barney gasped at this. "W-Wait, you can't..."

There was a sudden jolt of pain in his back. Barney could feel tears moving down his face when he felt Rudy suddenly yank out one of his wings. Barney felt his body shuddering in pain as he whimpered softly, his horrified eyes staring at the blood-tipped wing that Rudy had just pulled.

And noticing the look on Rudy's face, this wasn't going to end right then, was it?

He got the answer immediately when Rudy pulled out another wing. Barney let out a louder cry and he attempted to struggle, flapping his remaining two wings frantically. Penny and Snap pushed him down harder, and he could feel Snap having a little too much fun by grabbing onto one of his antenna and yanking on it hard.

As he screamed at this, Snap said, "That's right, just keep on struggling. See how well that would work out for you..."

"B-But..please..." Barney whimpered. "Y-You can't just..."

"Oh? And why can't we? What makes you the authority over us? What makes a toy capable of overcoming the master?" Rudy said coolly, his creepy smile chilling Barney's blood further. Rudy stroked along one of Barney's remaining wings before suddenly seizing it in his hands. "I gave you these wings. I have the right to remove them whenever I please."

Penny turned and gave a sideways glare to Barney. She hissed in a low voice, "You're better off listening to him. Not unless you don't mind making things a lot worse for yourself."

Snap shook his head. "Nah, let him squirm. I want to hear him scream."

Barney wasn't sure what he was going to do. If he attempted to struggle, Rudy was going to yank out his remaining wings. But then again, he was going to do that anyway, wasn't he? There was no point in a choice; the end result was going to be the same. So why not spend that by trying to get away from these monsters?

At this thought, Barney did the first thing that came to his mind. Although he realized that he was going to regret it, he managed to move his back end over to were Rudy was and he used those feet to grab on. He yanked Rudy back and flung him away.

The other two were clearly not happy about this. He could feel their glares on him as he attempted to get up. They still had a good grip on him and they were still stronger than he remembered them being, especially Snap. He could feel his heart pounding as he struggled to figure out how he was going to get himself out of this mess. And he did the only thing that came to mind.

He slammed his head against Snap's, their foreheads colliding with each other. He was stunned himself for a moment, but at least it forced Snap to let him go. With his recently freed hand, he struck at Penny. His fingers weren't that sharp, but he did produce a pretty decently sized scratch on her face. Once she and Snap were distracted, that's when he tried to make a run for it.

He moved as quickly as his legs could carry him. He could feel his wings flapping, the act having become instinctual. But it was of no use. Without those other wings, he could not take off into the air no matter how hard that he tried. But he could at least attempt to use the wings to make himself faster. The door wasn't that far away. If he could just get out there and call for help, these three could be stopped and...

...but what if the zoners don't believe him? Was there anyone even neary to help? Even if there were, Rudy and the others could find a way to lie about what happened and say how he was just 'overreacting'.

His only option was to just find King Mumbo Jumbo. He would know what to do.

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted when he felt something wrap around his body. He yelped at the sharpness of the item and then he let out a scream of pain when electricity shot through his body. It was enough to burn parts of his body and he was forced to collapse into the ground. Then he could feel his back legs being tied and he was lifted into the air. Now he found himself in an eerily familiar predicament.

"You shouldn't have done that, Barney." Rudy hissed. "You've made things harder for yourself."

"N-No... Wait... Please... I-I-It doesn't have to be this way..." Barney cried, unable to stop the tears from flowing down his face. He stared at the trio pleadingly, hoping to get at least a scrap of mercy from them. But he knew it was useless.

"I see you don't understand your position here. We came here for information and we are going to get what we want, even if by force." Rudy said. He paused for a moment before folding his arms. His previous glare vanished into a smirk. "...which we don't mind implimenting if we have to."

Barney's face paled at this and he shook his head rapidly. "I-I'll do anything! J-Just let me go."

Penny shrugged her shoulders. "It's kind of too late for that now. And we can get the information we want with this device." She showed Barney the item once more, causing him to tremble hard. "So you have nothing to give us."

The centipede zoner could feel his mind spinning and his heart racing. He was struggling to find something, anything to save him from this mess. He just wanted to leave, to get out of this place and not have to worry about them. He knew that these three weren't going to just let him go after this. They were going to want their secret to be safe and the only way to do that was to...

Oh gawd no.. There just had to be another way. Some path that didn't require endangering King Mumbo Jumbo. Maybe there was some kind of deal that he could work out with them? Maybe he could convince them that he wasn't worth their time? Maybe he could try something else? Either way, he had to at least try something before they did anything with him.

As he saw Penny moving the device towards his side, he started to squirm and writhe in the air, twisting his body about. This kept Penny from putting in the device, but he knew it was only temporary. Barney was about to twist again when he could hear Penny's annoyed voice growl at him.

"Hold still."

Barney stared at her for a few moments before attempting to move away, getting out of reach. It was a good thing that he could still grip onto walls with these feet of his. It would make it easier for him to put some distance between him and the trio for a little while.

But of course, they couldn't make it easy for him.

"Snap...?" Rudy cooed as he made a gesture towards Snap.

Barney tried to see what was going on, but he got his answer when he felt Snap grab onto one of his antennas. When the zoner yanked him hard, a whirlwind of pain cascaded throughout his body. Barney let out a scream as his head was forced to one side. His whole body stiffened, his feet jerking and his hands shaking. He could feel tears moving down his cheeks as Snap tightened his grip on his antenna.

Very slowly, Barney was forced back into the position that he was in before. What other choice did he have? It was either this or he get his antenna yanked out. He could see the look in Snap's eyes and the sneer that he wore. He knew that it would happen if he did anything to jerk himself free. He had no choice but to force himself to relax.

"See? This isn't so hard, is it?" Snap said to him, his tone mocking. "Now all you need to do is hold still while we do the work, okay?" He nodded towards Penny. "It's all on you, Buckette."

Penny didn't reply as she went back towards Barney. The centipede zoner flinched as she moved her fingers along the first monitor, fumbling and searching along to find something. Then she stopped and she looked over at Rudy. "He doesn't have a slot."

Rudy let out a sigh. "Then draw one."

"Of course." Penny pulled out her own piece of magic chalk and she went back over to Barney. "Hold still."

Barney felt a weird sensation when Penny started to draw something along the bottom of the first monitor. He squirmed a little and his legs involuntarily kicked. But he otherwise held still enough so that Penny quick finish the sketch. It felt weird, the new sensation that he felt. But it got worse when Penny pushed that device into him. His eyes bulged as it felt like someone was shoving something up where it didn't belong. He got a moment's rest after that, and then Penny started to activate it.

There was a sharp pain that emanated from that spot, followed by a strange and uncomfortable sensation that began to rattle through his body. He couldn't hold still for much longer and he found himself letting out a few screams of pain.

"P-Please, make it stop!" Barney cried out. He struck outward blindly with his hands, desperately trying to escape the pain. "Please, I can't take it! Stop it! Please stop it!"

Much to his surprise, the pain did stop. But the sensation didn't totally vanish. It just shifted. Rather than being painful, it was just...really weird. It felt kinda tingly at worst, and it spread along his other sections. He could feel something warm spreading across his sides and he realized that his side monitors were all glowing and spinning, Penny's device rapidly going to work.

His relief was very short-lived as he remembered what this information was going to be used for. He could feel a soft whimper escaping his lips and he lowered his head. "Please, you can't just d-d-do this... Why do you want to hurt so many people? I-Isn't that a stance that you're against?"

He could hear Rudy start to reply but it was Penny whom he heard instead. "And why do you care so much about the zoners, Barney?"

The centipede zoner looked over at Penny in confusion.

Penny stared at the zoner intently. She remained quiet for a few moments before she began to move in closer, her eyes boring right through his. The silence remained, spreading throughout the room and encasing everything in its path. That is, until Penny began to speak again.

"I know how you are with the other zoners, Barney. I know that you aren't exactly a fan of them. I know what you go into hiding just trying to get away from them. So I'm curious." She tilted her head to one side. "Why do you care about them?"

Barney wasn't sure what to say to this. He did attempt to speak at least a little bit. But he just tripped over his own tongue, spluttering and just not doing a good job with expressing himself.

Penny chuckled at this, amusement spreading along her face. She began to walk around him a little, her arms folded behind her back. She looked at him up and down, analyzing him like he were just a specimen in her eyes. Then she stared at him directly. She gave him a broadening smile before she restarted speaking.

"Those zoners drive you insane, don't they, Barney?" Penny cooed softly. Her voice was low and gentle, yet still had something of an intimidating edge to it. "You would love to get some peace and quiet and not have to worry about them constantly hounding you. I'm sure you remember how they would surround you and pesture you."

Barney still couldn't answer. He noticed that Rudy and Snap weren't talking. But they must have thought they didn't need to, judging from the looks on their faces. They were smirking as they watched Penny go about her 'friendly' chat with him. This made Barney gulp with unease.

Penny reached over and she stroked her fingers along his face and down along to his first section. This action caused Barney to shudder a little, a chilling sensation moving through his body as a result. He couldn't even stop his sharp intake of breath. It wasn't as bad as when Rudy poked around at him in the past, but it still made him feel almost...violated.

Penny said, "You don't like that, do you? I imagine the zoners kept doing this with you, didn't they? Oh that must have been so awful for you." Penny gave what looked to be a reassuring expression, but knowing what he knew now, Barney was certain it was just fake. "Wouldn't you like to have some way of...showing them up a little...?"

Barney's eyes widened as he began to realize what Penny was trying to do. He gulped and he shook his head quickly. "N-N-No thanks.. I-I'm good. I can just...keep hiding and..."

"But that's not enough, is it?" Penny inquired. "They usually seem to find you eventually and when they do, they don't stop." She spread her smile a little in one direction, making it look lopsided. "You know they won't stop."

"I..."

Penny just continued to smile at him. The very sight of it was bonechilling. But Barney couldn't think of anything to do in response to it. He could only just hang here, feeling himself swinging slightly, as he stared into Penny's eyes. He couldn't even turn his head. It was like his eyes were glued to hers, as though an invisible adhesive was keeping his neck locked in place.

Then he could feel her hand touching his face. He shuddered at her touch. Where it was once so comforting and warm, now it was just terrifying, a reminder to him of just how easily he had been duped. And it wouldn't have happened if he had only paid attention to his own internal data. He would have realized that these three were bad news and he could have warned the others about them.

Penny must have been hearing what he was thinking. Or if not that, then she had a very intuitive line of thinking, for her next words out of her mouth were, "You know I'm right, don't you, Barney? You might say you want to help the other zoners. Maybe you'll say that they don't 'deserve' what we plan on doing with them. But what about yourself?"

Barney hesitated to try to answer.

Penny leaned in a little closer. It almost looked like she was going to kiss him. Thakfully she didn't, but that did not ease Barney's racing mind. Many thoughts continued to explode all through his head and he couldn't help but grit his teeth as Penny began to speak in a soft voice. "If you help them, then you're only enabling them to find you again. You know that they will at some point, forcing you to keep moving around just to get some peace and quiet."

"I... I know that they can be pushy, but... I-I don't think they deserve to be..." The centipede's voice fell quiet. He licked his lips and swallowed hard. "They don't serve to be hurt like that."

Penny frowned softly. She turned her head to one side, staring at him with one eye. "Oh really now? They hadn't done anything in particular that got under your skin? Something so horrible that it was unforgiveable?" Barney shook his head rapidly. "Nothing at all? Hmm, we'll see about that..."

Barney could feel the uncomfortable sensation of Penny beginning to type away on his side monitor. He didn't attempt to fight back. He could only just hold still, flinching his eyes tightly and waiting to see what would happen in the end. He had no idea what kind of information that she was looking for, but apparently it didn't take her long to get it.

"...so it seems that how your friend was locked up for hundreds of years..."

Barney could feel his eyes widening at this statement.

Penny stared at him with a small smile. "...a few of the zoners suggested it first, it would seem. Well now, isn't that interesting...?"

"I-I..." Barney tried to say. But he couldn't think of any words to force out of his mouth. It was as if he were kept on lock down, forbidden to do anything else other than just stare at Penny. He couldn't exactly deny what she said.

And with Penny's sneer, it was clear that she knew this. "And what about King Mumbo Jumbo? He forced you into it, didn't he?" Penny held her hand up in gesture. "Really now, what kind of friend would force another to do such a thing? I wonder if he really does care about you at all."

Barney narrowed his eyes, feeling the burn of anger gripping at his chest. "N-Now you see here... King Mumbo Jumbo is my best friend and he would never do anything to h-hurt me! And besides, what about you?" He pointed an accusing finger at Penny. She just stared at him with a partially blank expression. "Y-You locked Rudy in the temple, just like I had with King Mumbo Jumbo!"

"That was different. I knew that I would get Rudy back. But you...?" Penny frowned as she leaned in a little more forward. "You couldn't possibly have known. You believed you would have lost him for good." She straightened herself up, her smile returning to her face. "And you know...maybe it's King Mumbo Jumbo who is angry at you. Maybe he does feel betrayed by how you left him to rot in that cave."

"I-It wasn't a..." Barney started to say.

Penny just waved her hand dismissively. "Eh, whatever. Point is, you still did that to him."

"It was to save ChalkZone! He told me to do it!" Barney shouted loudly, his eyes bulging wide open. "I-I didn't want to! But he made me do it! He said there was no other way! He said..."

"And you believed him?" Penny butted in, raising an eyebrow. She folded her arms to her chest. "How do you know that he meant it? How do you know he wasn't just testing your loyalty? To see how far you were willing to go?"

Barney found it impossible to reply. Any time that he tried, he just tripped over his tongue multiple times.

Penny stared at him for a few moments before she started to lean in even closer to him. He could feel her breath against him as she did so. It made him shudder and turn his head away. He could feel Penny gripping his lower jaw and forcing him to stare over at her. He struggled a little, but he knew that there was no escaping from this.

"Even if what you say is true, don't you think that King Mumbo Jumbo is going to realize...when you backstab once, you will likely do it again?" Penny asked in a low, soft voice. The question made Barney's eyes widen. Penny picked up on this immediately. "Ah so you do understand. Perfect." She smiled at this. "You also get what this means, don't you? If your 'friend' gets suspicious of you, what do you think that he is going to do? Are you going to sit there and continue to believe that he will continue to let bygones be bygones? He was trapped in that place for a long time, Barney. A very, very long time..."

Barney could feel some tears dripping from his eyes. He wiped at them, trying to make them disappear before these three saw it. But he wasn't fast enough and he ended up grazing his hand against Penny's arm when he made the motion. He involuntarily looked over at them and he shuddered how they were smiling at him. Especially Snap, that hideous grin on his face...

"N-No... H-He wouldn't..." Barney began to whimper softly. He didn't want to believe the possibility. He didn't want to think that King Mumbo Jumbo would do something like that. "H-He's my best friend! The only one who ever truly u-u-understood me! He... H-He would never try to..."

"And what were you to him? He ran a palace, didn't he? What were you supposed to be? His trusted advisor? Were you the one who suggested he be locked up or did he figure that one out on his own?" Penny asked. Barney stayed silent. Penny frowned and let out a sigh. "I see... Well regardless of how much of a 'friend' he is to you, remember that people can change if locked up for that long."

Barney shook his head. He glared at Penny, more burning wetness eating away at his eyes. "Y-You don't know him the way I do! He knew what he was doing and he wouldn't hold a grudge against me for doing what I was told! He wanted me to do that!"

The smile on Penny's face grew ever more disturbing. Barney felt himself swallow hard and loud, unsure of what to make of this.

"Oh sure, he might say that originally. But do you honestly, fucking think that, after the first year or two, that he would have stayed like that? Would he still have been proud of you? Or would he have started to grow bitter?" Penny's voice was chilling, making Barney feel like his blood temperature was dropping at a rapid pace. "You know I speak the truth, don't you? Underneath his smiling green face, he's hiding anger and resentment towards you. Why else would he have let you stay here, isolated and away from others, instead of the palace? Could it be that he's..." She paused for dramatic effect. "...waiting to pick you off? Where no one can see it happen?"

Barney felt his heart moving a million miles an hour. He struggled to push the thoughts out of his head, refusing to believe them. He tried to remind himself that Penny was just trying to manipulate him, telling half truths to make him suspicious of his own friend. He had to fight back. He had to...

...but she was making a lot of sense. He had noticed a shift in King Mumbo Jumbo's attitude. The king would tell him that it is not easy recovering from a three hundred year old nap, and that might very well be the case. But with Penny's words now floating around in his head, fears began to cling to his throat and mind, bringing to him a whole new level of fear and paranoia to him.

But he wasn't about to let that get to him that easily. He had to try to push back the mental block that was trying to forge its way into his skull. He could not let them get the upperhand.

"No, it's not... None of it's..."

Slowly, Barney found that he could not speak any longer. The words that came out of his mouth became increasingly broken and he could feel some cries starting to come out of his mouth instead. He attempted to fight back once more, but he felt all of his energy just give out almost immediately and he felt his body going limp.

"No..it can't be true..." Barney whimpered softly. He shut his eyes, doing nothing to stop the tears from dripping down his orange face. "Please, it can't be true..." His cracking voice was nothing but a whimper.

Penny's voice slicing through the air somehow sounded louder than it actually did. "He doesn't care about you, or at least if he does, not as much. He has reason to not like you, Barney. You were the reason he suffered all those years. And the other zoners... They don't care about you. All you are to them is just a giant dictionary for them to use for their own amusement."

Barney didn't have the energy to reply. He shuddered when he felt Penny cupping his face with both hands and forcing his head up. He could see Penny's eyes practically filling his own.

"But we care about you..." Penny said, giving a smile. "All three of us care about you. We know that you're not just a dictionary. We know you have more potential than that." She reached up and she gently stroked his hair. "Why don't you help us? We will help you get even with those zoners that used you, and we will protect you from your vengeful friend."

"I...I don't know..." Barney stated. "Th-This is..."

"...your one shot at being safe. Don't you want that? We can give you that safety and all the peace and quiet you ever could want." Penny cooed to him in a gentle, almost sweet voice. "We're all that you're ever going to need. You know the old saying... Scratch my back and I scratch yours."

Barney was silent once more.

Penny, with Rudy and Snap backing her up with smiles of their own, motioned to Barney and said, "What do you say...friend?"

Barney looked at Penny's hand, utterly silent. He couldn't just go and betray King Mumbo Jumbo like that...

...could he?

sss

Oh dear, had he really been gone for that long? Where had the time gone? He didn't think that he would be gone for this long. He hoped that Barney wasn't worrying about him too much. He didn't like scaring him like that, especially after... He shuddered to think about it.

Oh well, at least he was on his way back now. He shouldn't take too long to get to Barney's place. He might be a little slowed by these groceries that he got. A lot of cans and what not, and he wasn't sure what Barney would want to do with them. And he couldn't remember if that's what he originally wanted to get anyway. But he wasn't too worried. He was certain that he could figure out something to do with it.

King Mumbo Jumbo continued to head down in the same direction, struggling to hold onto the items in the bags. He felt his arms get a little achy and it served to him as a reminder that perhaps he should do a little but of exercise. It would not hurt, anyway. After all, it would be hard for him to rule over his kingdom after being gone for so long if he was not properly fit.

He wondered how Barney was enjoying his garden and flower bed that he had given the centipede zoner. He wasn't sure if it was exactly what he would have wanted, but last he checked, he seemed to enjoy it well enough. It gave him something to do and helped him to relax. This was especially good considering that Barney still felt some guilt over locking him in that temple years ago. King Mumbo Jumbo always did his best to avoid the topic. But Barney seems to find ways rake it up himself.

King Mumbo Jumbo could feel a sense of sadness crawling up along his spine. He felt his tongue moving over his beak slowly as he tried to cope with the emotions clinging to him. He hated to see Barney that way and he felt bad that he still felt guilty over what had happened. He had already told Barney that he wasn't upset with him, but it seemed that the guilt still ate away at him, anyway.

King Mumbo Jumbo tried not to let himself get dragged down too far, though. He could always figure out something to do later. He might be able to find something that could help him make Barney smile more often and help him overcome that guilt. He shouldn't continue beating himself up over that. Maybe engaging in a cooking session with him would help out. It would certainly do them both some wonders.

Soon, he could see the centipede zoner's home straight ahead. He slowed himself down slightly as he approached the door. He positioned himself in front of it and, holding the bags in one arm, he used his free hand to knock on the door.

"Hey Barney, I'm back now!"

When there was no immediate response, King Mumbo Jumbo furrowed his eyes slightly. He didn't want to get himself too worried; after all, there was little reason to believe that anything had actually happened. He was probably just getting worked up over nothing.

But still, he couldn't push aside the fact that Barney would usually almost always answer the door immediately, greeting him with a hug. He couldn't understand why he wasn't doing it this time. He licked his beak a little. He silently hoped that this was just a case of him getting worked up over nothing and not actually something that really happened. Heh, there had already been plenty of that.

Seconds later, as though to answer his prayers, he could see the door opening now. The delay hadn't been as long as he thought it was going to be. The door swung open and he could see the familiar orange face of Barney staring up at him.

It was strange to see Barney staring up at him like that. He almost looked like he was hiding, and when he waved to him, his fingers were a bit shaky. These subtle differences were not impossible to be seen. And yet for some reason, Barney still stepped aside and motioned for him to come in, as though wanting to still get on with things.

"Oh King Mumbo Jumbo! I was expecting you!" Barney said with a smile on his face. He gave a series of small chuckles as he allowed the large tortoise zoner to walk right in. "Please, make yourself at home!"

King Mumbo Jumbo tried to shrug off his earlier suspicions. There was no need for them. He reminded himself that Barney was still pestered by those other zoners. He must have either recently dealt with one or he just briefly thought that he himself was one. King Mumbo Jumbo couldn't help but feel sorry for his friend. He knew what it was like to have all sorts of attention, although he wasn't sure if he could fully understand what Barney was going through. At least not on the same, deeper level. After all, Barney's reason for attention was different from his own.

King Mumbo Jumbo shrugged it off the best that he could. He didn't really see much of a reason to pester Barney about it. He didn't look like he was in a particularly good mood. He had to wonder if the garden he had given him was doing him any good. Was it at least providing him with a place to mentally escape from his fears?

He made his way over towards the recliner that Barney was indicating for him. Smiling at his friend, the tortoise king sat himself into the seat. He pressed his back against it and crossed one leg over the other.

"It does feel good to rest. That was quite a hike." King Mumbo Jumbo said as he sat the bags down on the ground. "My arms could have used a break as well." He said as he started to massage his arms carefully. He flinched a little as he felt just how sore his arms were. He then looked over at his friend. "How have you been feeling?"

"Oh you know... Just fine." Barney said. He rubbed his hand against his head. He moved it up until he could stroke his hair a little. "Nothing out of the ordinary here."

King Mumbo Jumbo took notice of the weird tone that Barney produced. He paused for a moment and then said, "Then why do you sound so nervous?"

"Me? Nervous? That's nonsense! I'm just happy to see you, is all!" Barney spoke quickly. He smiled more broadly than he usually did, which was almost creepy, but somehow endearing at the same time. Barney spread his hands outward. "I was waiting for you to come home. I'm just so glad that you could make it!"

King Mumbo Jumbo nodded his head slowly. "Sorry I didn't come back sooner." He lowered his head a little and chuckled softly. "It took me longer than expected."

"Oh that's quite all right." Barney replied. "At least you're here now."

"Yeah that's true. I..." When the tortoise looked up, he suddenly froze. His wide eyes stared at Barney and he gasped, "...what happened to your...?"

"Oh this...?" Barney looked behind him. Where four wings used to be, there were now only two. Barney flapped them a little, letting them give off a buzzing noise. Then he just shrugged it off like it was nothing. "I...I snagged them, that's all. I-I'm sure Rudy Tabootie can help..."

"I'm sure he can." King Mumbo Jumbo nodded his head. "It's just a shame that he's usually so far away."

Barney was unusually quiet as he said, "Yeah, that's true..."

King Mumbo Jumbo was not sure what to make of this. Barney was agreeing with him, but it was the tone that got him. What was Barney so...

He was probably just under a lot of stress, poor guy. Barney still hadn't let go of the past and how he was hounded. It didn't help that a lot of the zoners wouldn't even leave him alone anyway. This forced him to hide just like before. Although Barney's had experience with that, he probably still felt internally tormented by the zoners constantly pestering him. Even out here, he wasn't safe from those thoughts.

The tortoise attempted to relax a little. There wasn't much else that he could do at the moment. Just relax and hope that things would get better. Barney did deserve some relaxation, some stress-free life. And those zoners should just leave him alone. Couldn't they see that they were making Barney's stress even worse? Or did they not care?

He doubted that the zoners had any real malicious intentions in mind. But he also doubted that they understood the gravity of the situation. They did not have to live through what Barney had to. They did not even...

"Well... I..." Barney spoke up, breaking the silence. He was rubbing the back of his head nervously and he looked as if there was something on his mind. Though what, it was hard to tell. "I do have...something I do need to tell you..." His voice was a tad bit shaky and dissipated quickly.

King Mumbo Jumbo could detect the distress in his friend's voice. He immediately wanted to jump up and hold onto him. But he refrained from doing so. He instead tried to be as supportive as he could. "You can tell me anything." He said to his friend gently as he raised his hand up in gesture. "Tell me what's troubling you."

Barney stared at him long and hard. There were several emotions that he was displaying across his orange, buggy face. Just seeing him like this, with no words, distressed King Mumbo Jumbo. It made him wonder just what could have hurt Barney so bad that he would be silent like this. Something must have happened.

Before he could say anything, he noticed that Barney pulled out some kind of controller. King Mumbo Jumbo furrowed his eyes at it. He didn't recognize it as anything that he ever used or seen. He kept staring at it as he saw Barney adjusting the device and pointed it straight a thim. The tortoise felt slightly uncomfortable, but he knew it couldn't be anything bad. After all, Barney wouldn't do anything dangerous to him. He was his best friend.

Barney lowered his gaze a little as he hovered his finger over the button. His feelers curled inward and his voice was barely a whisper. "I'm sorry."

King Mumbo Jumbo felt his eyes grow big. He opened his mouth to speak, but he was already too late. The button had been pressed and he could feel thick metal straps locking on him. He looked at the chair he sat in with terror in his eyes. This had been modified... As soon as that thought entered his mind, he tried to struggle. But he could not get free, and he nearly ended up ripping out one of his own limbs in the process.

Panting, he looked over at Barney, unable to believe what has happened. "B-Barney... What's the meaning of this...?"

"Heheheh... Wouldn't you like to know...?"

King Mumbo Jumbo felt his blood running cold at that statement. He felt his body giving off a sharp shudder and he swallowed hard, not wanting to believe it. He could see Barney lowering his head and fumbling his fingers together, pulling himself inward, and he moved backwards to give room for somebody else to approach.

Or rather, a group of people.

King Mumbo Jumbo felt a swirl of confused emotions surging in his head when he could see Rudy, Penny, and Snap approaching from the shadows. They all carried sick, twisted smiles on their faces, and it made him wonder if this was a dream or not. This...couldn't be real...right...?

But no matter how many times he tried blinking his eyes, nothing would erase the horrible imagery before him. He had never seeen Rudy, Penny, or Snap look at him this way. Many questions began to fill up his mind and he could feel himself breathing heavily, panting loudly. He made an effort to try to struggle, but he only ended up nearly dislocated his arm. This seemed to be designed specifically to keep him down.

It didn't take him long to make the connection that Rudy was responsible for this.

"Oh hey there, my dear king. How are you doing?" Rudy asked. His voice had lost the innocense that it used to have. Replacing it was an eerily calm voice that send shivers down the tortoise's spine. "You looked uncomfortable for a while. I've made modifcations to your chair. I hope you like it."

King Mumbo Jumbo gritted his beak, growling deeply as he tugged his other arm and tried to kick his leg. When this predictably failed, he leaned himself in, nearly pulling the chair up with him in response. His shell, unfortunately, made him a bit back heavy, making it try, even impossible, for him to stand up like this. "Y-You... What's the meaning of this?!"

Fear and confusion dominated his head when he could see the trio before him chuckling, like this was some kind of joke to them. He licked his beak slowly. He could feel his saliva turning bitter as terror registered in his head. It was even worse considering that he had no clue what brought this on. This was not how they usually would act. So what was wrong with them?

Try as he might, he just couldn't think of anything. It was possible it was a disease, but that would have only afflicted Snap, right? Rudy and Penny should be fine. But all three of them were staring at him like they wanted his blood. It had to be something else. The only other thing it could be was...

His eyes filled with horror as the thought floated around in his head. He swallowed painfully, unable to handle that this could possibly be true. There was no way that they could have...

But it would all make sense. It would explain...so much. Like how the tiny red bats had escaped... How Rudy seemingly knew what to do, just how close everything came to falling apart... It would explain why, according to the zoners, Rudy was able to 'just in the nick of time' save everyone from a disaster. Including of those that he claimed responsibility for. The zoners said it was an accident.

But apparently they were wrong...

"This...was all planned, wasn't it...?" King Mumbo Jumbo hissed, his eyes narrowing deeply. He took in a few more heavy pants, clutching his thick hands into tight fists. "You've all been pretending, haven't you? Acting like you're some kind of hero in this 'game' that you have created. You're all sick...!"

"Aww, you say that like it's a bad thing." Snap taunted him, raising his gloved hand slightly into the air. "Would you feel better if we gave you a pat on the back for figuring things out so quickly?" King Mumbo Jumbo just growled at this. "You didn't even need to hear us reveal anything for you."

King Mumbo Jumbo knew that struggling was ultimately pointless. Yet he could still feel the adrenaline racing through his body, prompting him to try something. But even the act of kicking one of these brats seemed like it was going to be impossible.

But he still couldn't help but blame himself. After all...

...as soon as he saw that Barney was missing half of his wings, he should have realized that something was up.

And that brought a burning question out of his mouth. "What have you done to Barney?" He knew that something must have happened in order to force Barney into this. And he wasn't going to give up until he got his answer.

"Oh we didn't force him into anything. He was glad to help!" Penny stated, giving a sly smile to King Mumbo Jumbo.

"What...?" The tortoise whispered softly. He couldn't help but look over at Barney, who was hunching himself nervously, rubbing his hand up and down his arm, and refusing to look at him. This was all the tortoise could see as he listened to Penny's little speech.

"He simply realized that you were going to turn on him eventually. He was the one who locked you up. You must feel so angry about that, even if you do not admit it. You would have done something eventually to make sure that he didn't repeat his mistakes. Barney here was just doing what he knew was necessary to ensure his own safety."

King Mumbo Jumbo had no idea just how accurate any of these statements were. It was likely that they were complete fabrications or exaggerations. But they still caused quite a stir in him and when he saw Barney looking away, almost silently admitting to this, the old tortoise could feel one particular emotion forcing its way to the front. With an explosion of anger, he wasn't able to stop what he said next.

"You traitor! How could you...?! I cared about you, Barney!" King Mumbo Jumbo breathed rapidly as he struggled to keep his emotions in check. But the pain of discovering what happened weighed too heavily on his mind and his eyes were still seeing red. "Y-You sold me out! To save your hide! Y-Y-You disgusting piece of shit...!"

As soon as he said that, King Mumbo Jumbo released a small gasp of horror. Had he really just said that...? He looked over at Barney with wide eyes and a gaping beak. The bug-like zoner was looking at him with a similar expression. His hand moved to his mouth, as if taken aback by what had happened. But then Barney started to give a small frown to him. Not one of anger, but of...acceptance...

Oh gawd no... What did he do...?

He had to try to make this right. He had to try to show Barney that he was just... Yes, he was angry at him, but he hadn't meant to say something like that. Ignoring the sneers he was getting from Rudy, Penny, and Snap, he tried to reach out to his old friend.

"B-Barney..." King Mumbo Jumbo called out. "P-P-Please...buddy... Y-You know I didn't mean it..." He gave a weak smile. "C-C-Come on... I-I..."

Barney didn't respond to his pleas. He just narrowed his eyes a little bit further before turning his head and part of his body away from him. There was no effort to look back at him, and King Mumbo Jumbo could feel ice shooting through his veins as he realize what this meant.

"No, Barney...please... I'm so sorry... Please... d-don't abandon me. Y-Y-You're my best friend, remember? I care so much about you. I-I don't want to lose you..." King Mumbo Jumbo pleaded, tears forming in his eyes.

"Isn't this so sad? Nothing like a little drama between 'friends', right?" Rudy chuckled as he walked in between the two zoners, obscuring King Mumbo Jumbo's view. As much as he tried, the tortoise could not twist himself far enough in either direction to see Barney. He was forced to stare at Rudy, whom he growled at. "It would seem that Barney's fears about you were right."

"Y-Y-You poisoned his mind...!" King Mumbo Jumbo called out. "I'm going to...!"

"What are you going to do?" Snap asked him in a taunting voice. "Besides...you were the one who chewed him out." He turned his head to one side, giving a mischevious grin. "Sounds like you're the one who messed up here, shelly."

King Mumbo Jumbo made one more effort to get free. His limbs just snapped back down and he let out a small grunt of pain.

Penny was the next one to speak. "We've struck a little deal with Barney. He agreed not to intervene with what we are about to do you..." She leaned in and stared into the tortoise zoner's eyes. "...and we let him live."

King Mumbo Jumbo refused to believe that Barney would actually sell him out, despite his accusations. These fiends... These monsters... They must have done something to make him bend that way. "J-Just wait until I get my hands on you..."

"...if you can. And hey, thanks for giving us an idea. We didn't know how we were going to start."

With horror spreading through his mind, the tortoise zoner tried to pull his hands away, attempting to dislodge them from the metal cuffs. But the more he tried to struggle like this, the more that he seemed to just get more and more stuck. He soon had to stop and look over at the trio in fear, his mind zipping through many thoughts as he tried to think of a way out of this.

It hadn't taken long before the so-called 'Great Creator' had drawn something to grab onto. Unlike the other drawings he was so used to seeing this boy create, this one was most definitely made with the intent on hurting. Rudy was soon gripping a handle that gave way to a long, solid beam of glowing plasma energy, the horrifying red glow plastering on his face and making him realize just how dire his situation was.

But there was no escape for him. He couldn't stop what was about to happen. Penny and Snap had already seized him, holding onto his thick, yellowish-green arms so that he would not be able to escape. Then Rudy took position where his left hand was. He could feel raw horror crawling up inside of his body as he saw who sadistically Rudy looked at his hand, as though gleeful of what he was about to do. Then he raised the plasma sword upwards.

"W-Wait... D-Don't..."

Rudy didn't listen and he soon struck down. The tortoise's eyes widened for a brief second before he released a loud scream of pain that echoed against the walls of the room, reverberating and feeling as though they were magnifying the pain that swelled up through his arm. There was a loud splunch upon the ground and something warm and wet started to drip down from the spot that was struck.

King Mumbo Jumbo tried his best not to cry after his left hand was severed like that. He used his remaining hand to grip against the chair's handle, biting his tongue with his beak. He didn't want to give these horrid pretenders any sort of satisfaction if he could help it. As his body quaked in pain, he opened up one eye to glare at them.

But they only looked up at him with satisfaction, twisted and almost excited. It was clear that they did not care what he thought nor did they seem worried of him trying anything. He was helpless and they knew this.

And they were going to take full advantage of it.

This was only just the beginning.

King Mumbo Jumbo saw Rudy getting ready to cut off his right hand. The blood loss was already making the tortoise feel shaky and dizzy. There was little chance that he would survive too long even just like this. He didn't know if Rudy and his two comrades were going to kill him or if they had something worse in mind.

He looked over at Barney, exchanging glances with him. He could see how horrified Barney looked, how he was reaching out as if to try to stop what was about to happen. But he curled his fingers inward and pulled his hand back, held back by...something. King Mumbo Jumbo was about to try to speak to him again, but he was cut off by Rudy's sickened voice.

"Don't worry, King Mumbo Jumbo... We're just alleviating you of some...work." Rudy raised his plasma sword over King Mumbo Jumbo's remaining hand. Snap and Penny tightened their grips, both looking increasingly excited for him to deliver the next blow. "You won't have to worry about 'having your hands full' ever again."

King Mumbo Jumbo was aware of a dizzying pain as the blade sliced into his right hand. He then could feel everything twisting and yanking around and his vision becoming a blur. He tried to stay awake. But the rapid blood loss was getting to him and fast. The last thing that he saw was Rudy's twisting, sadistic smile and a brief flash of orange... Barney...?

Then everything just shut down.


End file.
